Who painted Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments?

Ferdinand Bol painted Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in 1662.

What Bible passage does Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments depict?

Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments depicts the biblical scene from Exodus 34:29-35.

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Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments

Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments by Ferdinand Bol

Q: Where is Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments located?

Moses' Descent from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments is housed at Royal Palace, Dam, Amsterdam.

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Moses is shown descending from Mount Sinai bearing the tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Angels hover around him holding a white lily, a fasces, a serpent biting its own tail and a cloud. The people of Israel kneel down reverently before God’s law.

Additional information:

Bol’s picture shows the second occasion when Moses descended from Mount Sinai bearing the Ten Commandments. The first time, Moses had smashed the tablets in his fury at the godless behaviour of the people of Israel. This time, the people show their reverence for God and respect for the prophet with his shining face. The angels surrounding Moses carry a variety of symbols. The white lily stands for purity and chastity, the fasces (a bundle of rods from which an axe protrudes) for justice and unity, the circular snake for eternity and the cloud for the Holy Ghost. This painting is meant to exhort the sheriff and magistrates to observe and enforce God’s holy laws.

Artwork history:

In the early 19th century, during the reigns of King Louis Napoleon and the earliest sovereigns of the House of Orange, this painting was concealed by a large canopy, in front of which was a dais supporting the thrones of the king and queen.

Details

Artist: Ferdinand Bol
Created: 1662
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimension: 284cm × 423cm
Passage: Exodus 34:29-35
Housed at: Royal Palace Dam, Amsterdam

Found in: Exodus, Exodus 34, 17th century, Moses

Exodus 34:29-35

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain, Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him.

30 When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him.

31 Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them.

32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.

34 But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

35 The children of Israel saw Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Exodus 34:29-35 · World English Bible

The artist

Ferdinand Bol

1616 - 1680

Dordrecht

Ferdinand Bol was the son of a surgeon, Balthasar Bol, and was first an apprentice of Jacob Cuyp in his hometown and/or of Abraham Bloemaert in Utrecht. After 1630 he studied with Rembrandt, living in his house in Sint Antoniesbreestraat, then a fashionable street and area for painters, jewellers, architects, and many Flemish and Jewish immigrants. In 1641 Bol started his own studio.