Ferdinand Bol 1616 – 1680

The Captain of the Lord's Army Appears to Joshua

oil on canvas (408 × 273 cm) — c. 1662 Museum Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

This work is linked to Joshua 5:13

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During the siege of Jericho a messenger of God appears to Joshua. He identifies himself as "captain of the host of the LORD".

One of the angels in the sky holds a snake that bites itself in the tail. That is a symbol of infinity.

This painting is one in a series of five wall hangings that Bol made for a house on the Nieuwegracht in Utrecht. The other paintings show Abraham and the Three Angels, Pharoah's Daughter Finds Moses, King Cyrus Hands over the Treasure Looted from the Temple of Jerusalem, and Aeneas Receives a New Set of Armour.