Moses Presenting the Ten Commandments

Engraver: Begun by Robert Nanteuil; Engraver: Completed by Gérard Edelinck; After Philippe de Champaigne; Publisher: Pierre Drevet

1699

Medium: Engraving
Dimensions: 22 1/8 x 16 3/8 in. (56.2 x 41.59 cm) (image)
Genre: Print
Museum: Minneapolis Institute of Art

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france

About

This magnificent beard could only be the work of a wool merchant's son, as Robert Nanteuil was. Here the portrait engraver to Louis XIV turned his hand to a loftier lawgiver, Moses. The design came from Philippe de Champaigne, a pious French Catholic (two daughters were nuns) who believed that art could aid in meditative devotions. Larger-than-life, Moses fixes us with his gaze, commanding us to heed God's laws.