Rembrandt van Rijn

Year 1659

Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Covenant

Type of painting

canvas, oil

author

Rembrandt van Rijn

The size

168,5 см. × 136,5 см.

Location

Berlin Art Gallery

Dear friends, we continue our journey through the Biblical gallery "From Creation to Ascension" in the paintings of famous artists, and we have come to the painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - Moses with the Tablets of the Laws.
We read in Exodus 32 chapter

Harmens Rembrandt, the largest representative of the Dutch school. The painting is in the Staatlich Museum in Germany, its size is 1.69x1.37

The large size of the canvas, which is a rarity for a picture that depicts a single character, the expressive features of the old Moses and the indecision with which he lifts the tablets - all this makes this work exciting and mysterious.

Moses is depicted doubting: he does not know if he should not destroy the tablets of the Covenant, because after he received them from God on Mount Sinai, he returned to the Jewish people and found him worshiping the Golden Calf.

Rembrandt painted this picture in 1659, that is, in the last period of his work. The works of the last decade are characterized by larger dimensions, more visible strokes and less attention to detail. This is clearly visible on this canvas, where the landscape is almost blurred and unrealistic shades prevail.

The painting was painted during the period of Rembrandt's residence on the outskirts of Amsterdam in the area of ​​the settlement of the Jewish community. He was forced to move to this place after bankruptcy.
Moses has just come down from Mount Sinai with two stone tablets. This is undoubtedly a solemn event, but it is difficult to be sure whether this is a moment of triumph or anger when Moses, seeing that the children of Israel worship the golden calf, threw the tablets from his hands and broke them under the mountain.

Later, Moses will say to the people of Israel: -
I turned and went down the mountain, but the mountain was burning with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in both my hands; and I saw that you have sinned against the Lord your God, that you have made a molten calf for yourself, that you have quickly deviated from the path which the Lord commanded you to keep; and I took both tablets, and threw them out of both my hands, and broke them before your eyes.

Dear friend, looking at the plot of this picture, I want to ask you - what is your attitude to the Word of the Lord? Remember the words of Christ -
Rather, heaven and earth will pass away than one feature from the law will disappear, not a single iota or not a single line will pass, until everything is fulfilled.

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