Moses (Michelangelo)

Michelangelo's Moses, carved around 1513 to 1515 for the tomb of Pope Julius II and seen today on that tomb in San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome. The prophet holds the tablets of the law under his right arm, his torso turned one way and his head the other, while he pulls his long beard across his chest. That twist gives a seated figure the charge of someone about to rise. The horns come from a mistranslation of a Hebrew word for rays of light around his head.