32 Inches High x 14 Inches Wide x 9 Inches Deep
This mask is from Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses that measures 100 inches high (8 feet 4 inches high). Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to create his tomb, but the complex design that included over 40 statues was never completed. Michelangelo instead created a relatively smaller tomb where his figure of Moses sits centered on the bottom tier. In the initial design, he would have been placed on the top tier where he would have been viewed from below. This original placement explains the elongated torso and the enlarged or emphasized details. The “horns” coming out of his head have been included in other depictions of Moses throughout the centuries. Their meaning has been widely debated due to the translation of a word in the Bible. The word, in the description of Moses after he received the commandments from God for the second time, could be translated as horns or as rays of light or glory. A beam of light can also be said to take the shape of a horn, which is another interpretation. Michelangelo is known to have considered Moses his favorite and most important work.
Artist: Michelangelo
Museum: San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
Time Period: Renaissance, c. 1513-1515
1911 Catalog ID # – 13464
Sources:
Marshall, Taylor. “The Horns of Moses – Defending Michelangelo’s Horned Moses.” Taylor Marshall, http://taylormarshall.com/2013/08/the-horns-of-moses-defending-michelangelos-horned-moses.html.
“Michelangelo’s Moses.” Rome.info, http:///humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/michelangelo/a/michelangelo-moses.