This is a strange tale that I have to report, dear folks and fellow art enthusiasts. The statue was commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb. It depicts Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in chapter 34 of Exodus.
The Pope commissioned Michelangelo to build his tomb in 1505 and it was finally completed in 1545; Pope Julius II died in 1513. I'm not sure whether he got a refund from Michelangelo or not. Can you imagine waiting 40 years for one's tomb to be built?
The statue shows Moses seated in a serious attitude, he rests with one arm on the tablets, and with the other holds his long glossy beard. He is pensive, wondering how to make a back-up copy of his tablets in case they break again. A question that many archaeologists and historians have not been able to resolve as they don't know if they were Apple tablets, or Kindles or any other make, model or brand.
You will note that Moses is represented seated; his body faces forward, his head with its mighty beard looks to the left, his right foot rests on the ground, and his left leg is raised so that only the toes touch the ground.This suggests that he was either a contortionist or he got stuck in some weird yoga position.
OK ... now we come to the question of horns. Why does the statue show Moses with horns?
Here's an answer taken from The Guardian newspaper - LINK
IT'S BECAUSE of a mistranslation of the Hebrew text into the Vulgate, the version of the Bible from which Michelangelo gained his knowledge of Moses. The text (Exodus 34, verses 29, 30, and 35) actually says Moses's face was 'shining' when he came down from the presence of God on Mount Sinai where he had been given the Ten Commandments. In Hebrew, the verb 'qâran' meaning shining, is similar to the word 'qérén' meaning horned. The confusion arose because Hebrew was written without vowels, so the word would have been written as 'qrn' in either case.
...if Moses walked into a church today, would he be welcomed?
ReplyDelete... would he divide the congregation?
DeleteGod bless, Tom.
Poised to run, perhaps? I didn't see the tablets and thought, perhaps, he needed to use the men's room.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Mevely. He does look as if he's about to run. I wonder how long it took him to grow a beard that long.
DeleteGod bless always.
That is quite a very long beard, maybe there was a beard contest coming up. :)
ReplyDeleteGood point, Bill. Or perhaps someone hid his scissors. Did they have electric shavers in Moses' times?
DeleteGod bless.
Those missing vowels in Hebrew can certainly be problematic, Victor. I've never seen this statue before now, so I definitely learned something new today.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
I do a lot of research for the sake of Art, Martha. This statue was part of my research. I wonder if Art reads this Blog?
DeleteGlad you liked it and learnt something new. God bless you, Martha.
Hey dude, I am glad you cleared that up about the horns, I was worried. I think he did make a back up copy of the TEN!
ReplyDeleteLove from this side,
Sherry & jack smiling in the rain....
Yes indeed, Jack and Sherry. Moses did make a second set of the Ten Commandments.
DeleteIt rained a bit here yesterday. It's gray today and a little cold. God bless you.
Isn't it amazing how translations can get muddled. Thanks for clearing this up!
ReplyDeleteTrue, it did not mean horns after all.
DeleteGod bless, Mimi.
Yes, it does say that horns represent the presence of God. Strange?
ReplyDeleteLost in translation?
DeleteGod bless, Brenda.