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Moses (Michelangelo) 1 Moses (Michelangelo) Moses Artist Michelangelo Year c. 1513 1515 [1] Type Marble Dimensions 235 cm (92.5 in) Location San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome The Moses (c. 15131515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts the Biblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible used at that time. Description The marble sculpture depicts Moses with horns on his head. This was the normal medieval Western depiction of Moses, based on the description of Moses' face as "cornuta" ("horned") in the Latin Vulgate translation of Exodus. [2] The Douay-Rheims Bible translates the Vulgate as, "And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord." [3] The Greek in the Septuagint translates as, "Moses knew not that the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified." [4] The Hebrew Masoretic text also uses words equivalent to "radiant", [5] suggesting an effect like a halo. Horns were symbolic of authority in ancient Near Eastern culture, and the medieval depiction had the advantage of giving Moses a convenient attribute by which he could easily be recognized in crowded pictures. According to Giorgio Vasari in his Life of Michelangelo, the Jews of Rome came like "flocks of starlings" to admire the statue every Shabat.

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Page 1: Moses (Michelangelo) - resources.saylor.org · Moses (Michelangelo) 1 Moses (Michelangelo) Moses Artist Michelangelo Year c. 1513 – 1515[1] Type Marble Dimensions 235 cm (92.5 in)

Moses (Michelangelo) 1

Moses (Michelangelo)

Moses

Artist Michelangelo

Year c. 1513 – 1515[1]

Type Marble

Dimensions 235 cm (92.5 in)

Location San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome

The Moses (c. 1513–1515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed inthe church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts theBiblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bibleused at that time.

DescriptionThe marble sculpture depicts Moses with horns on his head. This was the normal medieval Western depiction ofMoses, based on the description of Moses' face as "cornuta" ("horned") in the Latin Vulgate translation of Exodus.[2]

The Douay-Rheims Bible translates the Vulgate as, "And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held thetwo tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord."[3] TheGreek in the Septuagint translates as, "Moses knew not that the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified."[4]

The Hebrew Masoretic text also uses words equivalent to "radiant",[5] suggesting an effect like a halo. Horns weresymbolic of authority in ancient Near Eastern culture, and the medieval depiction had the advantage of giving Mosesa convenient attribute by which he could easily be recognized in crowded pictures.According to Giorgio Vasari in his Life of Michelangelo, the Jews of Rome came like "flocks of starlings" to admirethe statue every Shabat.

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Moses (Michelangelo) 2

Tomb of Julius IIThe tomb was originally commissioned in 1505 yet was not completed until 1545 in a much reduced scale.Originally intended for St. Peter's Basilica, "Moses" and the tomb were instead placed in the minor church of SanPietro in Vincoli on the Esquiline in Rome after the pope's death. This church was patronised by the della Roverefamily from which Julius came, and he had been titular cardinal there.The tomb of Julius II was a colossal structure that would have given Michelangelo the room he needed for hissuperhuman, tragic beings. This project became one of the great disappointments of Michelangelo's life when thepope, for unexplained reasons, interrupted the commission, possibly because funds had to be diverted for Bramante'srebuilding of St. Peter's.[6] The original project called for a freestanding, three-level structure with some 40 statues.After the pope's death in 1513, the scale of the project was reduced step-by-step until, in April 1532,[7] a finalcontract with the heirs of Pope Julius II specified a simple wall tomb with fewer than one-third of the originallyplanned figures.[8]

The tomb of Julius II, with Michelangelo's statues ofRachel and Leah on the left and the right of his Moses.

The spirit of the tomb may be summed up in the figure of"Moses", which was completed during one of the sporadicresumptions of the work in 1513.Michelangelo felt that this was his most life-like creation. Legendhas it that upon its completion he struck the right kneecommanding, "now speak!" as he felt that life was the only thingleft inside the marble. There is a scar on the knee thought to be themark of Michelangelo's hammer.

Other sculptures

The statues of the "Dying Slave" and the "Rebellious Slave" werefinished but not included in the monument in its last and reduceddesign. They are now in the Louvre. Another figure intended forPope Julius' tomb is the "Genius of Victory", now in the PalazzoVecchio of Florence.

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Moses (Michelangelo) 3

"Dying Slave" "Rebellious Slave" "The Genius of Victory"(1533–1534)

Other sculptures for the tomb were the "Young Slave", the "Atlas Slave", the "Bearded Slave" and the "AwakeningSlave". The sculptures of Rachel and Leah, allegories of the contemplative and the active life, were executed byRaffaello da Montelupo, a pupil of Michelangelo. The other sculptures are by less experienced pupils.

InterpretationsIn his essay entitled The Moses of Michelangelo, the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, along with severalwell-respected experts, associates this work with the first set of Tables described in Exodus 32[9] : (19) “And it cameto pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot,and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.”A more recent view, put forward by Malcolm MacMillan and Peter Swales in their essay entitled Observations fromthe Refuse-Heap: Freud, Michelangelo’s Moses, and Psychoanalysis,[10] relates the sculpture to a second set ofTables and the event mentioned in Exodus 33[11] :

(22) And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and willcover thee with my hand while I pass by:” and (23) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see myback parts: but my face shall not be seen.

This event is described further in Exodus 34[12] :(4) And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went upunto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. (5) And theLORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. (6) And theLORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious,longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, (7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity andtransgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon thechildren, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (8) And Moses madehaste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

Even though Sigmund Freud never associates the statue with this latter event his description includes the following: “As our eyes travel down it the figure exhibits three distinct emotional strata. The lines of the face reflect the feelings

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Moses (Michelangelo) 4

which have won ascendancy; the middle of the figure shows the traces of suppressed movement; and the foot stillretains the attitude of the projected action. It is as though the controlling influence had proceeded downwards fromabove."

Notes[1] Sweetser 1878, p. 67[2] (Latin) Biblia Sacra Vulgata Exodus  34:29-35[3] Douay-Rheims Bible (http:/ / drbo. org/ cgi-bin/ d?b=drb& bk=2& ch=34& l=30& f=s#x)[4] English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible (http:/ / www. ecmarsh. com/ lxx/ ). For Greek, see Εξοδος 34:29 (http:/ / www.

myriobiblos. gr/ bible/ ot/ chapter. asp?book=2& page=34)[5] (Hebrew) Hebrew - English Bible (According to the Masoretic Text and the JPS 1917 Edition) Exodus  34:29[6] Kleiner, Fred S., Christin J. Mamiya, and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. 12th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2004.[7] Sweetser 1878, p. 92[8] Sweetser 1878, p. 107[9] Exodus  32:19[10] Macmillan & Swales 2003[11] Exodus  33:22-23[12] Exodus  34:4-8

References• Sweetser, Moses Foster (1878), Michel Angelo (http:/ / www. archive. org/ stream/

michaelangelo00sweegoog#page/ n76), Boston, Houghton, Osgood and company• Macmillan, Malcolm; Swales, Pete (2003), "Observations from the refuse-heap: Freud, Michelangelo's Moses,

and psychoanalysis", American Imago (Johns Hopkins University Press) 60 (1): 41–104,doi:10.1353/aim.2003.0003, ISSN 0065-860X

• Freud, Sigmund. (1914b). Der Moses des Michelangelo. Imago, 3, 15-36; G.W., X, 172-201; The Moses ofMichelangelo. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 13: 209-238.

External links• Psychoanalysis:The Moses of Michelangelo on Answers.com (http:/ / www. answers. com/ topic/

moses-of-michelangelo-the)• See Location San Pietro in Vincoli on the Map (http:/ / roma. cercachetrovi. it/

?q=san-pietro-vincoli-moses-statue)• Horny Jew: What’s the deal with Michelangelo’s Moses? (http:/ / galusaustralis. com/ 2009/ 09/

horny-jew-whats-the-deal-with-michelangelos-moses/ )

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Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and ContributorsMoses (Michelangelo)  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=427932499  Contributors: A8UDI, Afernand74, Ahoerstemeier, Alphachimp, Amberrock, Andrea105, Andreakkk,Attilios, BD2412, Bennó, Blorg, Booyabazooka, Bossk-Office, Brendenhull, Caillou1337, Caltas, Ciphers, Colonies Chris, CommonsDelinker, Cubistpainter, Deb, E. Underwood, EagleFan,Error, Evanrj, Finley it, Gabbe, Ghirlandajo, GoodDamon, Griseum, Gurch, Ham, Headbomb, Henry W. Schmitt, Infrogmation, Jaraalbe, Jay Gatsby, Jimsimon, JoJan, Joey james 85, Johnbod,Kauffner, Khaosworks, LJade728, Legaleagle86, Leszek Jańczuk, Lightmouse, Ling.Nut, Lusitana, MakeRocketGoNow, Meegs, Michael Hardy, Mild Bill Hiccup, Neddyseagoon, Ojw, Olivier,Omegatron, Pethan, Pnkrockr, Prasenberg, Raquel9e, Remember, Ricardo Frantz, Rienzo, Riggr Mortis, Ronhjones, Rpeh, Sailko, Savidan, Skarioffszky, Sluzzelin, Sparkit, Steven J. Anderson,Tanchum, Theruteger, Tide rolls, Titoxd, Tobyc75, Uel, WadeSimMiser, Woohookitty, Xinloki, Zurqoxn, 107 ,יבצ לאינד anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Moses San Pietro in Vincoli.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Moses_San_Pietro_in_Vincoli.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors:User:LeoboudvImage:Rome-Basilique San Pietro in Vincoli-Moise MichelAnge.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Rome-Basilique_San_Pietro_in_Vincoli-Moise_MichelAnge.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  Contributors: Jean-Christophe BENOISTImage:Dying slave Louvre MR 1590.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Dying_slave_Louvre_MR_1590.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:JastrowImage:Michelangelo-The Rebellious Slave.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Michelangelo-The_Rebellious_Slave.jpg  License: Creative CommonsAttribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0  Contributors: User:DadaFile:Firenze.Palvecchio.500.Michelangelo2.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Firenze.Palvecchio.500.Michelangelo2.JPG  License: Public Domain  Contributors:User:JoJan, cropped by user:Sailko

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unportedhttp:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/