| The Adoration of the Golden Calf | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Nicolas Poussin |
| Year | 1633–1634 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 154 cm× 214 cm(61 in× 84 in) |
| Location | National Gallery, London |
The Adoration of the Golden Calf is a painting by Nicolas Poussin, produced between 1633 and 1634. It is held in the National Gallery, in London.
It depicts the adoration of the golden calf by the Israelites, from chapter 32 of the Book of Exodus. It was made as part of a pair of paintings (the other being The Crossing of the Red Sea ) commissioned by Amadeo dal Pozzo, Marchese di Voghera of Turin, a cousin to Cassiano dal Pozzo, Poussin's main sponsor in Rome. By 1685 the pair had passed to the Chevalier de Lorraine and in 1710 they were bought by Benigne de Ragois de Bretonvillers. In 1741 they were bought from Samuel by Sir Jacob Bouverie, whose son William became the first Earl of Radnor. The Earls of Radnor owned the pair from then until 1945, when it was split for the first time and The Adoration of the Golden Calf bought by the National Gallery in London for £10,000, half of which was contributed by the Art Fund. [1] (The Crossing of the Red Sea was bought in the same 1945 sale by the National Gallery of Victoria.) It now hangs in Room 19 of the National Gallery, where it and Poussin's The Adoration of the Shepherds were vandalised with red spray paint on 17 July 2011. [2] [3] The French-speaking vandal covered up most of the nude figures. [2]
The painting's subject follows an event described in the Book of Exodus, chapter 32: during Moses' ascent to Mount Sinai, Aaron gatherred the people's gold to build a Golden Calf, an idol inspired by the Egyptians deities, despite the prohibition of the third commandment of the Decalogue. Moses, returning back with Joshua, discovers the scene of idolatry, lifts the tablets of the Law to break them.
The canvas shows the Golden Calf, placed on a base surmounted by an ornate pedestal, slightly at the left of the center of the composition, who is surrounded by a farandole of female and male dancers, on the left, and a kneeling crowd, on the right, leaning and listening to Aaron, who appears dressed in white. The decoration of the painting includes two trees on either side, a dry one on the right, and another bearing foliage on the left, in the direction of the two men descending from the mountain, Moses and Joshua. Moses, who holds the tablets of the Law above his head, is about to break them, in outrage over the idolatry of the people.
According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron was a Jewish prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran.
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible. It is a narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites leaving slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of their deity named Yahweh, who according to the story chose them as his people. The Israelites then journey with the legendary prophet Moses to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh gives the Ten Commandments and they enter into a covenant with Yahweh, who promises to make them a "holy nation, and a kingdom of priests" on condition of their faithfulness. He gives them their laws and instructions to build the Tabernacle, the means by which he will come from heaven and dwell with them and lead them in a holy war to conquer Canaan, which has earlier, according to the myth of Genesis, been promised to the "seed" of Abraham, the legendary patriarch of the Israelites.
Nicolas Poussin was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a small group of Italian and French collectors. He returned to Paris for a brief period to serve as First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but soon returned to Rome and resumed his more traditional themes. In his later years he gave growing prominence to the landscape in his paintings. His work is characterized by clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained a major inspiration for such classically-oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group.
According to the Torah and the Quran, the golden calf was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf". It is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus.
Ṭā Hā is the 20th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an with 135 verses (āyāt). It is named "Ṭā Hā" because the chapter starts with the Arabic ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt: طه (Ṭāhā) which is widely mistaken to be one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. But is just one of the many unlinked letters at the beginning of many surahs of the holy Quran
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tablets of the Law were the two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments when Moses ascended Mount Sinai as written in the Book of Exodus.
Ki Tisa, Ki Tissa, Ki Thissa, or Ki Sisa is the 21st weekly Torah portion (parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the ninth in the Book of Exodus. The parashah tells of building the Tabernacle, the incident of the Golden calf, the request of Moses for God to reveal God's Attributes, and how Moses became radiant.
Dathan was an Israelite mentioned in the Old Testament as a participant of the Exodus.
Events from the year 1634 in art.
The Seven Sacraments refers to two series of paintings of the seven sacraments by the French painter Nicolas Poussin.
The Crossing of the Red Sea is an oil on canvas painting by Nicolas Poussin, produced between 1633 and 1634. It depicts the crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites, from chapter 14 of the book of Exodus. It is held at the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne.
The Adoration of the Shepherds by the Le Nain Brothers is in the National Gallery in London. The painting dates from about 1640, and is relatively unusual as a religious subject or history painting in their oeuvre; they are best known for genre painting, especially groups of peasants. As with most of the works of Antoine, Louis and Mathieu (1607–1677) Le Nain, it is not possible to establish which brother, or combination of brothers, painted it. This painting is unsigned, but when they signed their works, from 1641 to 1648, it was simply as Lenain.
The Finding of Moses, sometimes called Moses in the Bulrushes, Moses Saved from the Waters, or other variants, is the story in chapter 2 of the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible of the finding in the River Nile of Moses as a baby by the daughter of Pharaoh. The story became a common subject in art, especially from the Renaissance onwards.
Extreme Unction is one of a set of seven scenes representing the sacraments of the Catholic Church, painted between 1638 and 1640 by the French artist Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665).
The Adoration of the Shepherds is a painting of 1633–34 by the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), now in the National Gallery, London. It is in oils on canvas, and measures 97.2 by 74 centimetres. Unusually for Poussin, it is signed "N. Pusin.fe" ["fecit"] on the stone at lower right. By 1637, soon after it was painted, it was owned by Cardinal Gian Carlo de' Medici (1611–1663), the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and was placed in his villa outside Florence.
The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus is an altarpiece, painted by Nicolas Poussin in 1628–1629, originally displayed in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.
The Virgin of the Burning Bush was a painting made of egg tempera and gold leaf on a wood panel. The portable icon was signed by Greek painter Michael Damaskinos. Damaskinos has over 100 known works. He was a distinguished member of the Cretan school of painting. He was from Crete. His contemporaries included Georgios Klontzas and El Greco. Damaskinos spent over twenty years traveling all over Italy. He spent a significant time in Venice. He adopted Italian artistic mannerisms which he applied to his paintings.
Cephalus and Aurora is the title of two oil paintings by Nicolas Poussin, both dated to about 1629 or 1630. The first is in the National Gallery, London; the second belongs to the Worsley baronets, of Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire.
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine is an oil on panel painting by Nicolas Poussin, dated to about 1628–1629, which depicts the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine to Christ. The picture is now in the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.