By all accounts, this is the most impressive fresco by Bronzino from those that were preserved in the Eleonora of Toledo Chapel. In addition, “Crossing the Red Sea” – one of the most ambitious creations of the master in this genre. Work on paintings in the chapel was started in 1540 and lasted five years.
The Eleonora of Toledo Chapel is a rather small room, all the walls of which are covered with paintings, a reception extremely popular among Mannerist artists. On the ceiling of the chapel, Bronzino portrayed the archangel Michael, St. John the Theologian, St. Jerome and St. Francis of Assisi. They were to represent four different “types” of holiness – from the archangel Michael closest to the Almighty, through the apostle John and one of the church fathers to the “modern” Saint Francis of Assisi.
The walls of the chapel Bronzino painted scenes from the Old Testament. In addition to these murals, the artist painted with oil the altar image for the chapel. The surviving records indicate that the fresco “Crossing the Red Sea” was created between September 1541 and March 1542. The plot for her was the famous biblical story of the miraculous salvation of the Jews during their exodus from Egypt.
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