Object Type
This is a wood engraved illustration. Although the process of wood engraving required highly skilled craftsmen, it became the most popular form of book illustration in the mid-19th century. Unlike copperplate engravings, wood engravings were engraved on dense boxwood blocks and could then be set and printed together with the type.

People
The Dalziel Brothers (active 1839-1905) was one of the most influential wood engraving, printing and publishing firms from the 1860s to the 1880s. In 1857 they founded the Camden Press so that they could print and publish fine art or gift books such as the Bible Gallery, for which this engraving was done. They also wood engraved and printed for many of the leading publishers and periodicals of the period, playing a vital role in the flourishing of black and white illustration in the 1860s. From 1871 to 1879 the Dalziels were also in charge of the illustrations and engraving of the Household edition of Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Later the brothers wrote that although the Bible Gallery was a commercial failure, 'Fortunately many of the best of the original drawings have found their way to the National Collection at the Kensington Museum (now the V&A), where they will remain as records of some of the very finest examples of the black and white work of this period'.

Subjects Depicted
Moses was the biblical leader of the Jewish people, and the lawgiver and founder of Judaism. Aaron was his brother. Moses forced the Pharoah of Egypt to allow the Jews, also known as the Israelites, to leave Egypt. He then led them to establish the promised land of Israel. During the journey he received the Ten Commandments from God, the fundamental tenets of both the Jewish and Christian religions.