Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli

Moses

Moses holds the Tablets of the Law. Part of the tomb of Pope Julius II, though the tomb was never completed as originally designed. The left arm repeats almost the same pose as the Cumaean Sibyl in the Sistine Chapel. The face looks similar to the God figure in the Creation of Sun, Moon and Plants in the Sistine Chapel. The horns on Moses' head derive from a mistranslation in the Latin Vulgate Bible, where the Hebrew word for "rays of light" was rendered as "horns" (cornuta). Moses is depicted at the moment of descending from Mount Sinai, about to discover the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf.