Death of Rachel, 1847 (oil on canvas)

This picture illustrates an Old Testament Bible story of an event in the boyhood of the Jewish leader Joseph (who later took the Israelites into Egypt to save them from famine). The scene here shows the death of Joseph's mother Rachel during the birth of her second son Benjamin. Her husband Jacob is holding her hand, and Joseph is weeping. The style of this large and important picture was influenced by German Nazarene artists, who aimed to reproduce the sincerity and simplicity of early religious art. Gustav Metz was a German-born artist who established a successful career in London;