(2 of 8) The Ten Commandments of the Law of God
Les Dix Commandements de la Loi de Dieu. Decalogue panel from Großziethen
Opaque-coloured painting on parchment, mounted on wood, by Eléazar Laurent, teacher in Stettin (1707-1775) - dated 1748
Text at top: Les Dix Commandements de la Loi de Dieu. Underneath, on the left, framed by pillars with decorative ornament and crowned with round arches is the Preface, Exodus XX, Écoute Israel, je suis l'Eternel ton Dieu, qui t'ai retiré du pais d'Egypte, de la maison de servitude (Listen Israel, I am the Lord thy God which have brought Thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage).
The first panel continues with four Commandments from Deuteronomy V, and on the right side the second panel carries the Commandments 5 - 10. Then there follows LE SOMMAIRE de toute la Loi. St. Matthew XXII (the summary of the entire law), the Commandment to love (St. Matthew XXII, verse 37). In the niche between the arches, Exodus, Chapter 20 is written. At the bottom left are the words: Fait à Stettin l'An MDCCXLVIII (1748); on the right, Par Eléazar Laurent. Underneath, on the right and left in a box, the illegible handwriting, partly destroyed by the ink, is just visible. In the middle of the bottom margin there are a few German words which were added later.
The panels which the Stettin teacher Eléazar Laurent created for the French Reformed congregation in Großziethen are today in the Huguenot Museum on the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin. A reproduction is in the church in Großziethen. Fragments of a second similarly crafted Decalogue panel by Eléazar Laurent in 1748 can be seen in the French church of Kleinziethen.
© Consistory oft he French Church of Berlin |
