Trials of moses

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Trials of Moses (Sandro Botticelli)
Trials of moses
Sandro Botticelli , 1481/1482
fresco
348.5 cm × 558 cm
Sistine Chapel

The Trials of Moses (Italian: Prove di Mosè) - sometimes also called The Events from the Life of Moses - is a fresco on the southern wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican . The creator of this Renaissance work from 1481 and 1482 is Sandro Botticelli (with his workshop).

history

As part of the reconciliation with Lorenzo de 'Medici after the Pazzi conspiracy , Pope Sixtus IV commissioned Sandro Botticelli to paint the walls of the Sistine Chapel in 1481. Botticelli began doing this in the spring of 1481. Of the 12 wall frescoes still preserved today, 3 are by Botticelli. Besides the 'trials of Moses' these are:

  • The temptations of Jesus (Italian: Prove di Cristo)
  • Punishment of Korach, Datan and Abiram (Punizione dei Ribelli)

After the death of his father, Botticelli returned to Florence in 1482. He was therefore no longer able to carry out any further works in the Sistine Chapel.

Location in the Sistine Chapel

The north wall is dedicated to frescoes from the life of Jesus; the paintings on the south wall refer to Moses. Prove di Mose and Prove di Cristo are opposite each other and typologically related to each other. Common conventions for the wall painters ensured that the frescoes were homogeneous.

description

The painting Trials of Moses combines several scenes from Moses' life in one landscape. Such arrangements are common in the Renaissance. They also correspond to Leon Battista Alberti's art theory , according to which paintings should tell a story.

In the middle is a tree with a pulley system over a well. The coat of arms of the family of Pope Sixtus IV contains an oak. One could understand the tree in the fresco as an indication that the fountain is under the protection of the Pope. On the right edge of the picture you can see an ancient temple.

Moses is recognizable in all scenes by a yellow robe and a green cloak. The scenes show in detail:

  • On the right edge: Moses kills an Egyptian who had injured a Hebrew with the sword below. A woman brings the injured to safety. Moses flees from Pharaoh to the land of Midian above .
  • To the right of the well and in front of it: In Midian, the daughters of the priest Jitro (also called Jethro or Reguel) want to water sheep and goats. When shepherds want to drive them away, Moses protects the daughters, including his future wife Zippora (also called Sephora). He watered the animals at the well. Zippora is the woman who faces us with a stick in her hand. She has a posture similar to Moses, which can be seen as an expression of her bond. The tree between Zipporah and Moses is the strongest and most expansive in the picture, possibly an indication of the fruitfulness of their future relationship.
  • Top left: Moses is in the desert with the sheep and goats. He hears the call of the Lord and takes off his shoes. He kneels barefoot before God and receives divine revelation from the burning bush.
  • Bottom left: Moses then leads the people of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. Clearly recognizable (by comparison with the scene in front of the fountain) is his wife Zippora, who carries a pot on her head.
Detail: Zippora , Moses' wife

Reference in the literature

In the first volume of the 7-part novel In Search of Lost Time (middle part: A Love Swanns) by Marcel Proust , Swann becomes aware of his love for Odele de Crécy when he notices her resemblance to Zippora from Botticelli's fresco.

Web links

Commons : Sistine Chapel  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Botticelli,_Sandro
  2. ↑ http://syndrome-de-stendhal.blogspot.com/2012/11/mose-in-midian.html , accessed on March 24, 2020
  3. ↑ http://syndrome-de-stendhal.blogspot.com/2012/11/mose-in-midian.html , accessed on March 24, 2020
  4. ^ Damian Dombrowski: Sandro Botticelli's religious paintings. Painting as pia philosophia. Berlin / Munich 2010, pp. 172–190