Getty Museum

The Israelites Dancing around the Golden Calf

Creator

French Artist · 1616–1671

"He could easily copy anything he saw," reported Sébastien Bourdon's biographer. However, when he copied and exhibited a Claude Lorrain landscape after visiting the master's studio, Claude was so angry that "M. Bourdon could barely escape violence." The successful Bourdon was frequently criticized for his versatility, which contemporaries blamed on lack of serious training. Born into an artistic f

More on Getty ULAN

Date: about 1645
Medium: Pen and brown ink, brown and white oil paint
Culture: French
Department: Drawings
Institution: Getty Museum

>And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. . . . >(Exodus 32:19) After forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai, Moses returns carrying the Ten Commandments, only to find the Israelites worshipping a golden calf instead of the true god. Strong theatrical gestures express the various emotions and activities of the Israelites. Sébastien Bourdon used browns with white accents to evoke a full range of light, shadow, and form. Oil paint and pen and ink cover nearly the entire surface of the paper, making this highly finished drawing resemble a monochrome painting. Bourdon repeatedly depicted the dramatic events from Moses' life.

View at Getty Museum ↗

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.

Get printable QR codes

Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.

Open this page

See at Getty Museum

Related across collections

Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.