Tablets of the Law
Two stone tables of the Decalogue—rectangular slabs with commandment hints.
Old Testament
Moses
Moshe
Two tablets mark Moses as the bearer of the Law. In a narrative scene, the sea or the burning bush may supply the clue.
Moses breaking the tablets of the LawRembrandt · 1659
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- Feast
- September 4 (some traditions)
- Era
- 13th century BC (biblical narrative) · Egypt, Sinai
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Iconographic Attributes
Iconographic field guide
Identifying features
Horns are rays from the Hebrew qaran interpreted as cornuta in Latin—artists literalized them until modern scholarship clarified. Tablets are always two unless Moses is mid-narrative breaking them. Burning bush appears in cycle scenes, not usually portrait attributes.
- Clothing
- robes
- Colours
- red · blue
- Symbols
- tablets · burning bush
Prophet's Beard
Long white beard of venerable prophet—paired with Aaron only when both in narrative.
Staff
Lily staff or prophet's rod
Visual Gallery
Works / 03Moses breaking the tablets of the LawRembrandt · 1659
Moses with the tablets of the LawBenjamin West
Moses with the tablets of the LawMoritz Daniel Oppenheim
Biography
Life & legacy
Exodus 34In Exodus, Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and receives the tablets on Sinai. When he descends, his face shines. The wording of the Latin Vulgate helped give rise both to rays of light and to small horns in Western images.
Exodus–Deuteronomy; Josephus; Vulgate Exodus 34:29–35 on “horns” of light.
Representation in Sacred Art
Narrative scenes to recognize
receiving the Law
burning bush
striking the rock
Visual Recognition Guide
1.Tablets of the Law
The Ten Commandments
2.Horns or rays of light on head
From Exodus 34:29–35 (Vulgate “horns”)
3.Long beard
Prophet of great age
4.Burning bush (in narrative scenes)
Theophany at Horeb
Patronage and Devotion
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Notes from the Archive
- Michelangelo's Moses in Rome popularized the horned depiction
Practice
