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Moses

ca. 1408–10
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 603

These four Old Testament prophets are among the masterpieces of Monaco, a leading late Gothic Florentine painter. Each figure holds an identifying attribute. David, holding a psaltery, is considered a direct ancestor of Christ; Moses holds two tablets of the Ten Commandments featuring pseudo-Hebrew script; Abraham prepares to sacrifice his only son Isaac, prefiguring the sacrifice of Christ; and Noah’s ark, the object of his salvation, is symbolically shaped like the church. The original arrangement and function of this group remains unknown.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Moses
  • Artist: Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) (Italian, Florence (?) ca. 1370–1425 Florence (?))
  • Date: ca. 1408–10
  • Medium: Tempera on wood, gold ground
  • Dimensions: Overall 24 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (62.2 x 44.5 cm); painted surface 22 5/8 x 17 5/8 in. (57.5 x 44.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gwynne Andrews Fund, and Bequest of Mabel Choate, in memory of her father, Joseph Hodges Choate, by exchange, 1965
  • Object Number: 65.14.3
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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David, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
David
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1408–10
Abraham, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
Abraham
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1408–10
Noah, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
Noah
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1408–10
Three Virtues (Temperance, Hope, and Fortitude or Justice) and Studies of a Seated Man, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Metalpoint, touches of brush and brown wash, heightened with white (partially oxidized in the figure at the lower left), on reddish violet prepared paper. Some lines retraced in pen and brown ink at a later date., Italian, Florence
Three Virtues (Temperance, Hope, and Fortitude or Justice) and Studies of a Seated Man
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1420
Last Judgment in an Initial C, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera and gold on parchment
Last Judgment in an Initial C
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1406–7

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