The Vision of Ezekiel
by COLLANTES, Francisco, Oil on canvas, 177 x 205 cm
Francisco Collantes was a landscape painter, one of the numerous pupils of Vicente Carducho.
The prophet Ezekiel is known to us through the Book of the Bible which bears his name. Probably deported into Babylon around 579 BC, he lived with the captive Jews in exile and pronounced his prophecies in the region of present day Tel Aviv. One day, his life was penetrated with the “glory of the Lord”, which he discovered in a series of visions. In one of his visions, the Lord went with him as he walked in a valley full of dry bones.At the Word of God, the bones rose up and “lived”, and “an exceeding great army” arose in their place. This event heralded Israel’s rebirth, and would be read by Christians as the annunciation of the resurrection of the body at the Last Judgment.