Elias in the Wilderness, from Six Landscape Subjects from the Old Testament

While historical documents record Antoni Waterlo as primarily a painter, today he is best known as a printmaker. Waterlo was considered a master at depicting trees, understanding their structures as some artists did the human skeleton. This print shows the prophet Elias alone near the river Jordan after his unpopular foretelling of an imminent drought forced him to leave the kingdom of Samaria. Ravens bring him bread and meat, fulfilling God’s promise to feed his faithful servant. The scene is hidden within the exuberant foliage of the wilderness.