Moses and the Gathering of Manna (?)

This drawing is now thought to show an incident from the Book of Exodus in the Christian Bible. The Israelites had escaped slavery in Egypt, but were afraid of famine as they wandered the desert. They complained to Moses, and God sent down a heavenly food, manna, which appeared form the sky every morning but melted in the sun. Here, Moses appears to oversee the gathering of the manna in bowls and pots. Sometimes called Maratti, Carlo Maratta (1625 - 1713) was an Italian painter known chiefly for religious scenes. An inscription in Italian on this drawing by its previous owner, Sebastian Resta, translates as 'I got this from the [doctor?] who thinks it is by Carlo, but I don't think so'.