Horny Moses

I don't know how many times I've painted and drawn this sculpture. Michelangelo's Moses will always have a special place in my heart. The first time I saw it in person, I was the only one in San Pietro in Vincoli, and I sketched the shadow and light that consummated the shapes and contours and dimension of the statue. So bold and magnetic.


In Michelangelo's version, Moses has horns because of an alternative translation of the Exodus passage citing the prophet's meeting with God. Another interpretation has Moses' face marred by a "divine radiation burn"; however, the first translation of the root in question to "ray of light" is post-biblical Hebrew, while the alternative meaning of "horn" occurs over 90 times in the Hebrew Bible. For artistic purposes, the horns provide an identifiable attribute for the Biblical figure.

Master print of Michelangelo's Moses, Jacob Matham, 1593.
Moses baptismal font, Christoph von Urach, 1518.