Moshe and the Luchot in Art/0

Moshe and the Luchot in Art

COMING SOON, IY"H!

Introduction

The three images discussed here all display Moshe with the tablets of the covenant, but at slightly different points in the narrative. In Guido Reni's image,¹ Moshe simply holds the tablets, while in Tissot's painting² he prepares to throw them in response to the sin of the golden calf. Chagall³ illustrates the next moment, after the tablets have already been dropped. The three artists' depictions of Moshe vary, reflecting their different understanding of his emotions at this juncture. Similarly, their portrayals of the tablets differ, highlighting how little we really know regarding their shape, size and the writing upon them.

Contrasting Images

Reni

Reni's painting can pass for a portrait of Moshe. The majestic leader fills the image, his red robes contrasting with the grey clouds in the sky. He holds one of the long stone tablets against his body and lifts the other above his head. His mouth stretches into an "oh", but it is not clear if this is a reaction to the golden calf, or if he is simply calling out and presenting the tablets to the nation.

Tissot

Unlike Reni, Tissot chooses to render Moshe in action, capturing his fury at the sinning nation. Moshe stands on a rock, body swaying back, as he moves to hurl the tablets below. A second figure, presumably Yehoshua, grasps him, perhaps attempting to prevent the sacred tablets from being destroyed. The scene is set not amidst lofty clouds, but against a mountainous range. The harsh lines of the stones reflect Moshe's harsh response to the golden calf.

Chagall

Chagall, like the other artists, prefers to portray just Moshe and the tablets without the accompanying nation. The image is divided on a diagonal with a hint of grey-black clouds filling the left half, and a greenish mountain covering the right. A dismayed Moshe stands on the mountain, his hands held aloft in a gesture of helplessness. At his feet lie the still intact stone tablets which have apparently dropped from his hands.

Relationship to the Biblical Text

The artists' choices reflect certain ambiguities in the Biblical text and different possible interpretive stances:

One or Two?

While both Tissot and Chagall portray the tablets as two connected blocks of stone, Reni depicts them as two separate tablets. Which depiction is closer to the Biblical text? The tablets are consistently referred to as "two tablets of testimony" or "two tablets of stone"⁴ suggesting that they were distinct slabs of stone. Why, then, do so many artists depict them as attached? This might be due to the influence of contemporary writing tablets in Late Antiquity and Medieval times which took the form of diptychs. Alternatively, the popular assumption that each tablet contained only five commandments,⁵ might have led artists to view each tablet alone as incomplete, and, thus, to the decision to join the two.

Shape and Size

All three artists paint the tablets as curved on top, but differ in the way they envision their overall size. While Tissot and Chagall portray the tablets as relatively small and, as a twosome, somewhat square, Reni depicts very long rectangular tablets. The Biblical text is silent on the tablets' shape and size but Rabbinic sources⁶ suggests that each was a square, six handbreadths in width and length, and three handbreadths in thickness. It is not clear exactly how these measurements are reached, and in fact, the only known limiting factor is related to the dimensions given for the ark which contained them.⁷

Division of the Decalogue

How were the commandments written on the tablets? Of the three artists, only Reni relates to the question and both his division of the commandments into ten and how he distributes them upon each stone differs from the standard representation. Many assume that there were five commandments on each tablet,⁸ but Reni instead displays seven commandments on the second tablet, starting with "Honor your father…" Furthermore, he splits the prohibition against coveting into two separate commandments. Where does such a division stem from? Though the Torah states that there were ten sayings on the tablets,⁹ no where does it say what constituted each commandment,¹⁰ nor how these were distributed amongst the two stones,¹¹ allowing for many possibilities.¹² For elaboration, see Decalogue: Division and Design.

Throwing the Tablets

In Tissot's image, an angry Moshe is clearly about to hurl the tablets and smash them below. In Chagall's painting, in contrast, Moshe looks as if he has simply dropped the stones. Shemot 32 states, "וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ מִיָּדָיו אֶת הַלֻּחֹת וַיְשַׁבֵּר אֹתָם תַּחַת הָהָר", which is commonly understood to mean that Moshe intentionally broke the tablets. Rashbam, though, suggests that upon seeing the golden calf, Moshe's strength left him and the tablets fell from his hands.¹³ Though the verse testifies to Moshe's anger at the events, Chagall and Rashbam highlight instead Moshe's frustration and disappointment with the nation.

¹ Reni (1575-1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, known for his classical style and his many religious and mythological scenes. This painting dates to 1624 and is currently housed in the Galleria Borghese, Italy.

² James Tissot (1836-1902) was a French painter who spent the later part of his career painting Biblical scenes. This painting can be found in the Jewish Museum, New York.

³ Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was born in Russia to a Chassidic family. He is one of the most well-known and celebrated modern Jewish artists, working in a variety of media from painting to stained glass. Many of his works were inspired by his Chassidic background and relate to religious and Biblical themes. This painting can be found in the Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, France.

⁴ See, for instance, Shemot 31:18, 32:15, 34:1, 34:29

⁵ See discussion below, that not all agree on this point.

⁶ See the discussion in Bava Batra 14a.

⁷ The ark was two and a half cubits in length, a cubit and a half in width, and a cubit and a half in height. This gives a maximum but not minimum size for the tablets. As it is not clear if the two tablets were placed side by side (as assumed by the gemara) or laid one atop of the other, many varying dimensions are possible. There is also controversy regarding what else was placed in the ark and regarding the amount of handbreadtsh in a cubit, all of which would further affect one's calculations.

⁸ See, for example, this other depiction of the tablets by Chagall, or Rembrandt's famous image. Compare also many depictions of the tablets in synagogues atop the ark, such as this one.

⁹ See Shemot 34:28.

¹⁰ The main disagreements revolve around the beginning and ending of the Decalogue. Some commentators, like Ibn Ezra, do not not count "I am the Lord" at all, while splitting "Do not covet" into two (one for each mention of the word "covet"). The Sifre, in contrast, appears to combine the first statement with the second statement, "You shall not have other gods…". Alternatively, one could split "You shall not have" into two commandments ("You shall not have" and "You shall not make").

¹¹ According to R. Chanina ben Gamliel in the Mekhilta, there were five on each tablet, each commandment, in some way, relating to its partner on the second tablet. The sages there, in contrast, suggest that there were ten on each tablet. This position can be understood in light of what is known about covenants in the Ancient Near East, where a copy of the terms was given to each party. If the tablets represented the written contract of the covenant between Hashem and His nation, here too, two copies are necessary. Other opinions in the Yerushalmi go as far as to suggest that there were 20 or 40 on each tablet, presumably assuming that the commandments were written on the front and back of the stones, or that the stones were a cube and written on four sides.

¹² Reni follows the division of Augustine, which has three commandments between man and God on one tablet and seven commandments between man and man on the other. [He combines "I am the Lord" and "Do not have..." into one commandment, so that the first three commandments are: "I am the Lord...", "Do not take God's name in vain", and "Remember the Sabbath".]

¹³ The word "וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ" is difficult as it connotes a throwing rather than dropping. This prompts Rashabm to suggest that Moshe managed to throw them slightly away from him so as not to drop them on his feet. Rashbam's position might be motivated by a discomfort with the idea that someone could actually intentionally destroy the handiwork of Hashem.