# Moses and the Golden Calf

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/moses-and-the-golden-calf-rdedcf7dd4453e2>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [BECCAFUMI, Domenico](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15>)
- Date: 1501-1550
- Technique: Oil on wood, 197 x 139 cm

## Commentary

Late in his career, Beccafumi executed an important series of paintings for the venerable Cathedral of Pisa. Moses and the Golden Calf is disturbing in its originality because the figures have become increasingly thin, diaphanous, and dependent upon silhouette and outline to achieve convincing form. Scale is unconventional and has little significance by normal usage. Moses, holding the tablets, stands in a contorted pose and looks disapprovingly at the miniaturized golden calf nearby. The sharply foreshortened nude youth in the left foreground is difficult to interpret. &lt;P&gt; &lt;TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR=&#34;\#99CCCC&#34;&gt; &lt;TR VALIGN=MIDDLE&gt;&lt;TD&gt;&lt;IMG SRC=&#34;/support/gif/listen.gif&#34; BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE&gt; Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 5 minutes\):&lt;BR&gt;&lt;A HREF=&#34;\#&#34; onClick=&#34;w=window.open \(&#39;/music1/19\_cent/rossini\_moses.html&#39;, &#39;newWin&#39;, &#39;scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350&#39;\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true&#34;&gt;&lt;B&gt;Gioacchino Rossini: Moses, Moses&#39; Prayer&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/A&gt; &lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;&lt;/TABLE&gt;

## Related artworks

- [Birth of the Virgin](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/birth-of-the-virgin-r437bb2603be443>)
- [Fall of the Rebel Angels](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/fall-of-the-rebel-angels-r87e74ec391e9a5>)
- [Fall of the Rebel Angels](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/fall-of-the-rebel-angels-rd913e2b9404f88>)
- [Head of a Youth Seen in Profile](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/head-of-a-youth-seen-in-profile-r72e9e74f77eaaa>)
- [Hermathena](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/hermathena-r08db23078351e5>)
- [Judgment of Zaleukos](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/judgment-of-zaleukos-rcdbd14ad366537>)
- [Madonna with the Infant Christ and St John the Baptist](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/madonna-with-the-infant-christ-and-st-john-the-baptist-rdc6f580a4396fb>)
- [Mystical Marriage of St Catherine](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/mystical-marriage-of-st-catherine-rcb8f09891e20ac>)
- [Penelope](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/penelope-r7dfda1043b9970>)
- [Scipio Appeals to the Honour of his Soldiers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/scipio-appeals-to-the-honour-of-his-soldiers-r1ec121b33f682c>)
- [St Jerome](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/st-jerome-r0f07fdf3059855>)
- [St Lucy](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/beccafumi-domenico-r95023343e20f15/st-lucy-ra2110c0365d618>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)