Moses, Aaron and Hur on Mount Horeb (nude study)

William Page's preparatory study depicts the biblical moment when Moses holds aloft his staff during battle while Aaron and Hur support his arms. Page rendered the three figures as idealized nudes to establish musculature and compositional balance before adding drapery for the finished work. This drawing exemplifies nineteenth-century academic practice, where artists studied the human form systematically to construct historical and religious scenes. Page, a prominent American painter trained in Europe, employed classical anatomical principles to convey both physical strain and spiritual resolve in this pivotal Old Testament narrative.