Moses
Artwork by Michel-Ange • 1515
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About this artwork - painting analysis
This ancient photograph immortalizes one of Michelangelo's most powerful sculptures, the Moses, created between 1513 and 1515 to adorn the monumental tomb of Pope Julius II. Originally commissioned as part of a grandiose mausoleum intended for the Basilica of Saint Peter, this colossal work in Carrara marble now stands in the Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains in Rome. The biblical prophet appears seated there, his body in a masterful twist, his head turned to the left, his long beard sculpted with unparalleled virtuosity cascading down his muscular torso. Beneath his right arm, the Tablets of the Law recall his role as divine lawgiver, while his left hand seems to restrain this majestic beard in a gesture charged with contained tension.
Michelangelo deploys here all his genius as a sculptor of the High Renaissance, breathing into the marble an almost terrifying life. The prophet's powerful musculature, the prominent veins in his arms, the folds of drapery that reveal more than they conceal – every detail testifies to this anatomical mastery that already fascinated the artist's contemporaries. The famous detail of the horns on Moses' head stems from a translation error in the Vulgate, where rays of divine light were confused with horns, an interpretation that Michelangelo chose to perpetuate. This masterful figure embodies Michelangelesque terribilità, that terrible and sublime grandeur which characterizes the creations of the Florentine master.
The tomb of Julius II, of which this sculpture constitutes the masterpiece, had a troubled history spanning forty years. Originally conceived as a colossal monument comprising more than forty statues, the project was constantly reduced and modified. Yet Moses transcends these vicissitudes to establish itself as one of the pinnacles of Western sculpture, a timeless embodiment of spiritual power and human determination in the face of the divine.
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Image license: faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional public domain work of art.
