Biblical Women

Men frequently seem to take centre stage in the Bible’s stories: patriarchs and prophets, warriors and kings, priests and apostles. But look more closely and this is a narrative entirely impossible without women, who determine its course, enlarge its horizons, and live out its consequences at every point. They include military commanders, migrants, matriarchs, and queens, and are the close intimates of—and first witnesses—to Jesus. The exhibitions here bring to the fore some of these biblical women.

Mother and Child (Divided) by Damien Hirst

Fragile Goddess by Louise Bourgeois

Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), from the Ashburnham Pentateuch (Tours Pentateuch; Codex Turonensis) by Unknown artist

Genesis 3:16, 20; 4:1–2
Eve’s Punishment

The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Masaccio

Hereford Mappa Mundi by Richard of Haldingham and Lafford [Richard de Bello]

Adam and Eve (Banished from the Garden) by Damien Hirst

Genesis 3:22–24
Expulsion and Exile

Lot's Wife by Unknown artist

Landscape with the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by Joachim Patinir

View from the town hall tower to the south with the allegory of kindness (sculpture by August Schreitmüller, 1908–10), from the series Dresden after the bombardment of 13–14 February 1945 by Richard Peter Sr

Genesis 19:1–29
Lot’s Wife

Hagar by Karel Gomes

Abraham's Farewell to Ishmael by George Segal

Hagar by Edmonia Lewis

Genesis 21:8–21
Get Out

We Are All Prostitutes, from the Market Street Cinema series by Leon Mostovoy

Peter von Cornelius by Emile Jean Horace Vernet

Mother and Child Juniper Fleming

Genesis 38
Tamar

Moses Rescued from the Waters by Nicolas Poussin

The Finding of Moses by Nicolas Poussin

The Finding of Moses by Nicolas Poussin

Exodus 2:1–10
The Finding of Moses

The Angel of the Lord Attacks Moses and Zipporah Circumcises their Son to Allay God’s Wrath by School of Rembrandt van Rijn

Moses’s Journey into Egypt and the Circumcision of His Son Eliezar by Perugino

God Meets Moses on the Way to Egypt by David C. Hancock

Exodus 4:19–29
A Bridegroom of Blood

The Dance of Miriam and preparation for Seder, from the Golden Haggadah by Unknown artist

The Song of Miriam by Luca Giordano

Miriam's Song of Praise by Wilhelm Hensel

Exodus 15:20–21
The Song of Miriam

Jael and Sisera 2 by Marcelle Hanselaar

Speechless by Shirin Neshat

Jael from Speculum humanae salvationis by Unknown, Northwestern Germany

Judges 4
Jael and Sisera

Angel by Rose Finn-Kelcey

The Carriers' Prayer by Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson

Temple, Derry/Londonderry, Ireland by David Best

Judges 13
Samson’s Annunciation

More Exhibitions

Joseph Sold into Slavery, Bad Blood, False Accusations and Portents of the Future, from The Crusader Bible (The Morgan Picture Bible) by Unknown French artist

Zulaykha Seizing the Skirt of Yusuf's Robe, from a Yusuf and Zulaykha of Jami by Unknown Bukharan artist

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife and Scenes from the life of Joseph, from the Golden Haggadah by Unknown artist

Genesis 39
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Christ and the Samaritan Woman by Lavinia Fontana

Christ and the Samaritan Woman by Unknown artist

The Woman at the Well by Diego Rivera

John 4:1–42
The Woman at the Well

Jali Lattice Window by Mughal artists from Gujurat

Self Portrait in a Fur-Trimmed Robe by Albrecht Dürer

Still Life with Vessels by Francisco de Zurbarán

2 Corinthians 3:12–4:18
From Glory to Glory Advancing