,%20c.%201475_The%20Hague,%20Meermano%20Museum_MS%20RMMW%2010%20A%2011,%20fol.%20375v.jpg) |
| Master Francois, Moses Receiving the Ten Commandments From The City of God by Saint Augustine of Hippo French (Paris), c. 1475 The Hague, Meermano Museum MS RMMW 10 A 11, fol. 375v |
“In those
days, God delivered all these commandments:
“I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves
in the shape of anything in the sky above
or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;
you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,
inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall
not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
the one who takes his name in vain.
“Remember
to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your beast,
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor
your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
Exodus
20:1-17 (Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent, Year B)
One of the
most important of the documents that have come down to us from the ancient world is
the list of actions that we have come to call the Ten Commandments. They have been a guide for personal activities
and for societal laws since they were written down. There have been other ancient codes that have
come down to us from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, but it is this list of
prohibitions and recommendations that still has a living presence, like the God
whom the book of Exodus claims as its author.
,%20c.%201190-1200_The%20Hague,%20KB_MS%20KB%2076%20F%205,%20fol.%207r.jpg) |
| Moses Receiving the Ten Commandments From a Picture Bible French (Saint-Omer), c. 1190-1200 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek MS KB 76 F 5, fol. 7r |
In some ways
it might be said that the Commandments have no relationship with art history,
for how do you represent disembodied ideas in a visual format? However, there is one way in which they have
figured, in Christian art at least from the very beginning, in the narrative of
how they came to be received by the Israelite people. I use the word “Israelite” here because at
the point that the Commandments appear in the Bible the people are still
wandering following their escape from slavery in Egypt. They are the people descended from Israel,
otherwise known as Jacob. They have not
yet settled in the land beyond the Jordan and become “Jews” (the word is
derived from the area later known as the kingdom of Judea). They are still led by Moses. Indeed, it is Moses’ reception of the
Commandments and the community’s acceptance of them that signals the real
foundation of what became the Jews.
Their disembodied God and his Commandments set them apart from the other
peoples of the Levant.
,%20First%20Quarter%20of%20the%2015th%20Century_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%20226,%20fol.%208r.jpg) |
| Master of Rohan and Workshop, Moses Receives the Ten Commandments From De casibus by Boccaccio French (Paris), First Quarter of the 15th Century Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 226, fol. 8r |
The Commandments in Art
So, it is in
the figure of Moses that we can begin to see the Commandments appear in
Christian art. And this happens
surprisingly quickly. There are several
images of Moses receiving the Commandments from the hand of God on early
Christian sarcophagi in the collection of the Pio-Cristiano Museum of the
Vatican Museums. They date from the
fourth century, just shortly after the Edict of Milan (315) guaranteed
religious toleration to Christians within the Roman Empire. These early images are pretty basic and
appear within a decorative program that includes many other images reflecting
stories from both the Old Testament and the Christian Gospels.
 |
| Front of Double Tiered Sarcophagus with Central Shell and Busts Roman, c. 300-330 Vatican City, Vatican Museums_Pio Cristiano Museum |
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| Detail of the sarcophagus above, showing Moses Receiving the Ten Commandments to the left of the central shell and also showing another favorite Old Testament scene, the Sacrifice of Isaac, to the right. |
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| Two-Tiered Sarcophagus with Shell and Busts Roman, c. 325-350 Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio Cristiano |
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| Detail of the sarcophagus above, also showing Moses Receiving the Ten Commandments to the left of the central shell and the Sacrifice of Isaac on the right. |
These straightforward images focus on the figure of Moses receiving the tablets (occasionally a scroll) of the Law from the disembodied hand of God or from a small image of God which emerges from a cloud. As we will see, this way of telling the story had a long afterlife. It is, in the main, the approach taken to illustrating this story in the Eastern Church.
 |
| Moses Receiving the Commandments Byzantine, 6th Century Mount Sinai, Monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai |
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| Moses Receiving the Commandments Byzantine, Early 12th Century Sinai, Monastery of Saint Catherine |
However, within
a short time this straightforward storytelling was expanded to include additional
portions of the Exodus story. And this
too would have a long life in both Eastern and Western Christian art.
Simple Storytelling
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| Master of the Story of Moses, Moses Receiving the Commandments Italian, c. 1180 Lucca, Church of San Frediano |
,%20c.%201320-1330_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%208,%20fol.%2060v.jpg) |
| Master of the Roman de Fauvel and Workshop, Moses Receiving the Ten Commandments From a Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1320-1330 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 8, fol. 60v |
,%201332_The%20Hague,%20Meermano%20Museum_MS%20RMMW%2010%20B%2021,%20fol.%2029v.jpg) |
| Michiel van der Borch, God Presents the Ten Commandments to Moses From a Rhimebible by Jacob van Maerlant Dutch(Utrecht), 1332 The Hague, Meermano Museum MS RMMW 10 B 21, fol. 29v |
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| Lorenzo Ghiberti, Moses on Mount Sinai Italian, c. 1425-1452 Florence, Baptistery, Eastern Doors, The Gates of Paradise |
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| Joseph von Führich, God Writing the Commandments Austrian, 1835 Vienna, Belvedere Museum This composition departs from tradition in a number of ways, especially by showing God in this dynamic pose, clearly derived from Michelangelo's Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel ceiling. |
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| Richard Julius Jungtow, God Presents Moses with the Commandments From Die Bibel in Bildern German, 1860 Rome, Biblioteca Hertziana |
Telling More than One Part of the Story at Once
 |
| The Story of the Ten Commandments From a Bible, The Ashburnham Pentateuch Unknown origin, 6th -7th Century Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS NAL 2334, fol. 76r The story here moves from top to bottom. At the top Moses prepares to receive the Commandments from God. In the middle Moses reads the Law to the people at an altar. In the bottom level we see the tent containing the Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant. |
,%20c.%20845-851_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Latin%201,%20fol.%2027v.jpeg) |
| Moses Receives the Commandments from God (top) and Presents Them to the People From the Vivien Bible French (Tours), c. 845-851 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 1, fol. 27v |
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| Moses Ascends the Mountain and Receives the Commandments from God While the People Wait Below From the Codex Reginensis Byzantine, c. 10th - 11th Century Vatican City, Biblioteca apostolica vaticana MS Reg.gr.1.pt.B, fol. 155v |
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| Moses Is Called by God and Ascends the Mountain to Receive the Commandments While the People Wait From the Paris Psalter Byzantine, c. 940-960 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Grec 139, fol. 422v |
,%20c.%201200-1225_Munich,%20Bayerische%20Staatsbibliothek_MS%20Clm%20835,%20fol.%2018v%20bottom.jpg) |
| Moses Receives the Commandments from God While the People Worship the Golden Calf From The Munich Golden Psalter English (Oxford), c. 1200-1225 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 835, fol. 18v |
,%20c.%201270_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Latin%2010525_fol.%2035v.jpeg) |
| Moses Receives the Commandments from God, Then Destroys Them in Anger Because the Israelites Worshipped the Golden Calf From a Psalter French (Paris), c. 1270 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 10525, fol. 35v |
,%20c.%201300-1325_Parisk%20BNF_MS%20Francais%20156,%20fol.%2031r.jpg) |
| Master of the Roman de Fauvel From a Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1300-1325 Parisk Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 156, fol. 31r There are two scenes here with the same characters. At the left Moses and Aaron discuss something. While on the right, Moses (now showing the effects of his contact with the divine) receives the Commandments and Aaron comments. |
Other Ways of Depicting the Story
However, not
all images of the Ten Commandments are involved in storytelling. Some are more complicated.
Typology
One way in which our ancestors thought about the world was to search for “types”.
,%2010th%20Century_Berlin,%20Bode%20Museum.jpg) |
| Moses Receiving the Commandments and Thomas Probing the Wounds of Christ German (Trier), 10th Century Berlin, Bode Museum Both of these images concern the self-revelation of God to human beings, through the Commandments and through touch. |
One of the best-known examples of this is the Biblia pauperum in which an image from the life of Christ (Under Grace) is conflated with two other images from the Old Testament, one before the reception of the Commandments (Before the Law) drawn from the Books of Genesis and Exodus and the other after its reception (Under the Law) drawn from the remaining Books of the Old Testament.
,%20c.%201470_The%20Hague,%20Meermano%20Museum_MS%20KB%20MMW%2010%20A%2015,%20fol.%2033r_cropped_2.jpg) |
| The Rambures Master, Joseph Thrown into the Well (Before the Law), Jesus Laid in the Tomb (Under Grace) and Jonah Thrown to the Whale (Under the Law) From a Biblia pauperum French (Hesdin or Amiens). c 1470 The Hague, Meermano Museum MS RMMW 10 A 15, fol. 28 |
However, there is another work of a similar kind that uses a different set of “types”. The is the Speculum humanae salvationis (Le Miroir de l'humaine salvation in French). The incidents chosen for it are different from the Biblia pauperum, although they follow the same idea. There is also more variation in the episodes that different illustrators chose for these books, within certain limits to be sure.
These works of typology had their heyday in the later medieval period, roughly from the mid-13th century to the beginning of the 16th century, when they collided with the upsets associated with the Reformation, which made that way of viewing the Bible obsolete.
These books were intended primarily for a lay audience and those that are extant are usually cheaply made, with inferior illustrations, but there are some notable exceptions which are of high quality.
,%20Early%2015th%20Century_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Latian%20512,%20fol.%2035v-36r.jpg) |
| Pentecost, The Tower of Babel, Moses Receiving the Commandments, Elijah Telling the Widow to Fill Her Water Jars (which will become oil) From a Speculum humanae salvationis Swiss (Basel), Early 15th Century Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 512, fol. 35v-36r |
,%201432_Madrid,%20Biblioteca%20Nacional%20de%20Espana_MS%20Vitr.%2025-7%20(olim%20B.%2019),%20fol.%2032v-33r.jpg) |
| The Ascension, Jacob's Ladder, Moses Receiving the Commandments, Elijah Telling the Widow to Fill Her Water Jars From a Speculum humanae salvationis Austrian (Innsbruck), 1432 Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de Espana MS Vitr. 25-7 (olim B. 19), fol. 32v-33r |
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| Pentecost, The Tower of Babel, Moses Receiving the Commandments and Elijah Telling the Widow to Fill Her Water Jars From a Le Miroir de l'humaine salvation Flemish, 1455 Chicago, Newberry Library MS Case 40, pp. 74-75 |
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| Circle of the Master of James IV of Scotland, Pentecost, The Tower of Babel, Moses Receiving the Commandments and Elijah Telling the Widow to Fill Her Water Jars From a Speculum humanae salvationis Flemish, c. 1500 Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 139, fol. 35v-36r |
Symbolic
Another way
of representing the Commandments is one that I would call symbolic. These images focus primarily on the
Commandments themselves. Most frequently
they are shown as being held by Moses for our consideration, but occasionally the image is focused exclusively on the Commandments.
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| Lorenzo Monaco, Moses Italian, c. 1408-1410 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
,%20c.%201450-1475_The%20Hague,%20KB_MS%20KB%20128%20C%208,%20fol.%209r.jpg) |
| Master of Jacquemart Pilavaine, The Commandments From Postilla litteralis by Nicolas of Lyra Flemish (Hainaut), c. 1450-1475 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek MS KB 128 C 8, fol. 9r |
,%201532_New%20York,%20Metropolitan%20Museum%20of%20Art.jpg) |
| Valentin Bousch, Moses Presenting the Tablets of the Law French (Lorraine), 1532 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Michelangelo Buonarroti, Moses Italian, c. 1542-1545 Rome, Church of San Pietro in Vincoli_ |
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| Moses Showing the Tables of the Law with the Ten Commandments in Calligraphy Flemish, c. 1560-1600 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| Michael Spiess, Moses German, 1607 Burg bei Magdeburg, Evangelical Church of Saint Nicolas |
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| Philippe de Champaigne, Moses with the Ten Commandments Flemish, 1648 Saint Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum |
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| Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Moses with the Tablets of the Law Dutch, 1659 Berlin, Gemaeldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin |
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| Melchior Michael Steidlm, Moses Austrian, 1698 Lambach, Monstery Church of the Assumption |
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| Anton Weidlich, Moses with the Ten Commandments German, 1751 Egloffstein, Evangelical Parish Church of Saint Bartholomew |
Unusual Images
There are
also a few images that are unusual. They
may tell the story differently or reduce the figure of Moses receiving the
Commandments to an insignificant corner of the work.
,%20c.%201385-1390_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%2020090,%20fol.%2075v.jpg)
Moses Receives the Ten Commandmens
From a Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins
French (Paris), c. 1385-1390
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 20090, fol. 75v
,%201463_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%2050,%20fol.%2056r.jpg)
Master Francois and Workshopm Moses Receives the Ten Commandments and Brings Them to the People
From a Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais
French (Paris), 1463
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 50, fol. 56r
Jacopo Bassano_Autumn, Moses Receives the Ten Commandments
Italian, c. 1586
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
Thaddeus Kuntz, Moses on Sinai
Polish, c. 1750-1793
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
A Word About Those Horns
One thing
that always merits a mention whenever one is describing images of Moses is the
presence of horns on his head. What are
they doing there and what do they mean?
Are they likening Moses to the devil?
Are they an instance of anti-Semitism?
To both these questions the answer is a firm NO.
The truth is
much simpler and has to do with language and translation. The original Old Testament Scriptures were
written in Hebrew. In the two centuries
before the birth of Christ a group of Hebrew scholars in Alexandria, Egypt made
a translation from the Hebrew into Greek, the universal language of the time. It was the version used by most Jews at the
time of Jesus. It is now known as the
Septuagint, as the number of translators is traditionally said to be seventy-two. This was the version of the Old Testament
used by the earliest Christians and which continues in use in the Greek
speaking Church to this day.
However, those
Christians of the West who spoke and read Latin couldn’t easily use it. So, at the end of the fourth century Saint
Jerome set out to translate the Old Testament from the original Hebrew into
Latin, using the Septuagint as a guide.
His translation became known as the Vulgate and was the standard Old
Testament Bible in use in western Europe until the sixteenth century.
Translation
can be a real minefield as nuances in the language being translated may not be
known to the translator. Further, over
time the meanings of words sometimes change.
This is one of those instances of misunderstanding.
In Exodus
Chapter 34, Moses returns from his second trip to the top of the mountain,
where he is shown the glory of God and receives a duplicate set of tablets to
replace the originals that Moses destroyed in his anger over the Israelites
decision to create the golden idol of a calf to worship when they lost faith in
Moses’ return from his first visit. On his second return the Bible says “ As
Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant in his
hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant* while he
spoke with the Lord. When Aaron, then,
and the other Israelites saw Moses and noticed how radiant the skin of his face
had become, they were afraid to come near him.” (Exodus 34:29-30).
When
translating this passage from the Hebrew, Saint Jerome had to choose what words
to use to convey the meaning of some passages.
Since there was no Google Translate in the fourth century, or even a
dictionary, Jerome was limited in his word kit to those words he knew or could
ask opinions on from those around him.
So, when it came time to translate the passage above, with its reference
to the skin of Moses face becoming radiant, he chose a Latin word that
indicated a projection from one’s head.
The word was “cornuto”. However,
this word also means “horned”. This word applies only to the Latin Vulgate
translation.
Therefore,
when later western European Christian artists came to illustrate the story of
Exodus and Moses reception of the Commandments, they probably read it as the equivalent
of saying “As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the
covenant in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become horned
while he spoke with the Lord.” (Exodus 34:29)
This simple
mistake was probably as puzzling to them as it seems to us. But, that was what the Vulgate said, so that
was what they presented, even by some very great artists.
I would suggest that a glimpse of this confusion is evident if you look at a series of manuscript images from the West, beginning around the start of the fourteenth century, when the horned Moses was still new. It appears that the horns arrive, not as springing from the head of Moses, but from a cap that he wears on his head. Only gradually do the horns move from the cap to spring directly form his scalp.
,%2014th%20Century_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Fran%C3%A7ais%20152,%20fol.%2058v-a.jpg) |
| Moses Receiving the Commandments from God From a Bible historiale by Vincent of Beauvais French (Saint-Omer), 14th Century Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Français 152, fol. 58v-a |
,%2014th%20Century_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Fran%C3%A7ais%20152,%20fol.%2060r.jpg) |
| Moses Receiving the Commandments from God From a Bible historiale by Vincent of Beauvais French (Saint-Omer), 14th Century Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Français 152, fol. 60r |
,%20c.%201320=1340_The%20Hague,%20KB_MS%20KB%2071%20A%2023,%20fol.%2062r.jpg) |
| Master of Fauvel, Moses Receiving the Commandments from God From a Bible historiale completee by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1320=1340 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek MS KB 71 A 23, fol. 62r |
,%20c.%201320-1330_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%208,%20fol.%2068r.jpg) |
| Master of the Roman de Fauvel and Workshop From a Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1320-1330 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 8, fol. 68r |
,%20c.%201350-1375_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%202,%20fol.%2058r.jpg) |
| Moses Receives the Law From a Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1350-1375 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 2, fol. 58r |
,%20c.%201370-1380_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20NAF%2015939,%20fol.%2048v.jpg) |
| Master of the Livre du Sacre and Workshop, God Presents the Commandments to Moses From a Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais French (Paris), c. 1370-1380 Paris, Biblioteque nationale de FranceF MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 15939, fol. 48v |
,%20c.%201371-1372_The%20Hague,%20Meermano%20Museum_MS%20RMMW%2010%20B%2023,%20fol.59v.jpg) |
| Jean Bondol and Others, Moses Receives the Ten Commandments From a Grande Bible Historiale Completee by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1371-1372 The Hague, Meermano Museum MS RMMW 10 B 23, fol.59v |
As the
Renaissance and later the Reformation introduced more widely representative
textual scholarship and new translations of the Scriptures, the incidence of
horns on the head of Moses diminished.
By the seventeenth century, they were entirely gone. Some nineteenth-century
artists did add emanations from Moses’ head, but of beams of light, not horns.
,%201410_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%201023,%20fol.%2020v.jpg) |
| Master of Lucon and Workshop, Allegory of Abstinence From the Livre de bonnes meurs by Jacques Legrand French (Paris), 1410 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 1023, fol. 20v Here the projections from Moses' head actually take the form of decorative representations of light, no horns involved. |
,%20c.%201447-1455_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Latin%204915,%20fol.%2036v.jpg) |
| Master of Jouvenel des Ursins and Workshop, Moses Receives the Commandments From a Mare historiarum by John of Cologne French (Anjou), c. 1447-1455 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 4915, fol. 36v Here the "horns" appear more in the nature of the "horns" of an episcopal miter, turned around. This is a reminder that it is from the idea of the horn (not the animal kind, but the kind that can be used to send a warning) that that particular item of headgear derives. Bishops are said to display the "horns" of both Testaments, which are the foundations of the Church. |
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| Guercino, Moses with the Tables of the Commandments Italian, c. 1625-1626 Rome, Galleria Colonna There is no hint of horns here. |
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| Valentin de Boulogne, Moses with the Tables of the Law French, 1628 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum No horns here either, just a suggestion of radiance. |
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| Philippe de Champaigne, Moses and the Commandments Flemish, c. 1645-1663 Amiens, Musée de PIcardie |
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| John Rogers Herbert, Moses with the Ten Commandments English, c. 1866-1867 Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle |
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| James Tissot, Moses and the Ten Commandments French, c. 1896-1902 New York, The Jewish Museum |
M. Duffy,
2024
1. The classic discussion of this issue is Mellinkoff,
Ruth. The Horned Moses in Medieval
Art and Thought, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles,
1970.
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