Moses transforms Aaron's staff into a snake Neoclassical artist , early 19th century China and watercolour on paper 62 x 47 cm The sheet depicts a biblical episode, probably the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh's enchanters, caught at the moment when the staffs are transformed into snakes. The scene is set in a grand architectural interior punctuated by arcades and drapes, and populated by numerous figures arranged on two registers. The orderly composition, the calibrated use of chiaroscuro and the classical rendering of drapery and anatomy place the drawing within the Italian or French neo-classical culture of the first decades of the 19th century. Within frame.