Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law

1659 painting by Rembrandt

Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law

Artist	Rembrandt
Year	1659 (1659)
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	168.5 cm × 136.5 cm (66.3 in × 53.7 in)
Location	Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law is a 1659 oil-on-canvas painting of the prophet Moses by the Dutch artist Rembrandt. It depicts Moses about to break the original two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. It is now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.^[1]

References

^ "Moses mit den Gesetzestafeln". Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums). Retrieved 2024-04-23.

Bibliography

Kristin Bahre u. a. (Hrsg.): Rembrandt. Genie auf der Suche. DuMont Literatur und Kunst, Köln 2006. ISBN 3-8321-7694-2
Christian Tümpel: Rembrandt. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek 2006. ISBN 3-499-50691-2.
Shalom Sabar, “Between Calvinists and Jews: Hebrew Script in Rembrandt’s Art,” in Mitchell B. Merback, ed., Beyond the Yellow Badge: Anti-Judaism and Antisemitism in Medieval and Early European Modern Visual Culture (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 371-404, 559-573.

Rembrandt

Lists of drawings, etchings, paintings, self-portraits

Paintings

The Senses (1624–25)
The Stoning of Saint Stephen (1625)
Suffer little children to come unto me (1620s)
History Painting (1626)
Balaam and the Ass (1626)
The Baptism of the Eunuch (1626)
Bust of a Man Wearing a Gorget and Plumed Beret (1626)
Tobit and Anna with the Kid (c. 1626)
The Flight into Egypt (1627)
The Parable of the Rich Fool (1627)
The Artist in his Studio (1628)
Samson and Delilah (1629–30)
Anna and the Blind Tobit (c. 1630)
The Raising of Lazarus (c. 1630–1632)
Andromeda Chained to the Rocks (1631)
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1631)
Christ with a Staff (1631)
Christ on the Cross (1631)
Old Man with a Gold Chain (c. 1631)
Philosopher in Meditation (1632)
The Abduction of Europa (1632)
Adoration of the Magi (1632–1633)
The Shipbuilder and his Wife (1633)
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) ²
A Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633)
Raising of the Cross (1633)
Descent from the Cross (1633)
Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto (1634)
Flora (1634)
Artemisia (1634)
Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit (1634)
Descent from the Cross (1634)
Belshazzar's Feast (1635)
Minerva (1635)
The Prodigal Son in the Brothel (c. 1635)
Raising of the Cross (study) (c. 1635)
The Rape of Ganymede (1635)
The Entombment of Christ (1635)
Samson Threatening His Father-In-Law (1635)
The Standard Bearer (1636)
Danaë (1636)
The Blinding of Samson (1636)
Landscape with Arched Bridge (c. 1636-1637)
The Preacher Eleazar Swalmius (1637)
The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family (1637)
The Stone Bridge (1637)
The Wedding Feast of Samson (1638)
Landscape with the Good Samaritan (1638)
Still Life with Peacocks (c. 1639)
The Girl in a Picture Frame (1641)
The Scholar at the Lectern (1641)
The Night Watch (1642)
Concord of the State (1642)
David and Jonathan (1642)
Boaz and Ruth (1643)
The Woman Taken in Adultery (1644)
Joseph's Dream (1645)
The Holy Family with Angels (1645)
The Mill (1645–1648)
Abraham Serving the Three Angels (1646)
Susanna and the Elders (1647)
Head of Christ (1648)
The Kitchen Maid (1651)
Descent from the Cross (1650–1652)
Saul and David (c. 1652) ¹
Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (1653)
A Woman Bathing in a Stream (1654)
Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654)
The Polish Rider (1655) ¹
Slaughtered Ox (1655)
Pallas Athene (c. 1655)
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman (1656)
Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656)
Courtesan at her Mirror (1657)
Saint Bartholomew (1657)
Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659)
Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther (1660)
The Denial of Saint Peter (1660)
Titus as a Monk (1660)
The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (1661)
Saint Matthew and the Angel (1661)
Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (1662)
Homer Dictating his Verses (1663)
The Jewish Bride (1664)
Lucretia (1664) ¹
David and Uriah (c. 1665)
Young Woman with a Lapdog (1665)
Lucretia (1666)
The Return of the Prodigal Son (1662–1669)
Landscape with a Castle

Portraits

Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1631)
Portrait of a Man (1632)
Portrait of a Woman (1632)
Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III (1632)
Aeltje Pietersdr Uylenburgh (1632)
Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair (1633)
Oval Portrait of a Woman (1633)
Portrait of Marten Soolmans (1634)
Portrait of Oopjen Coppit (1634)
Portrait of Petronella Buys (1635)
A Polish Nobleman (1637)
Portrait of Maria Trip (1639)
Portrait of Jan Six (1654)
Portrait of Catharina Hooghsaet (1657)
Portrait of a Man (1657)
Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo (1658)
Portrait of Dirck van Os (c. 1662)

Self-portraits

Self-Portrait with Dishevelled Hair (1628)
Rembrandt Laughing (1628)
Self-Portrait (1629)
Self-Portrait in a Gorget (c.1629)
Portrait of a Young Man with a Golden Chain (1635) (disputed)
Self-Portrait Wearing a White Feathered Bonnet (1635)
Self-Portrait at the Age of 34 (1640)
Self-Portrait (1652)
Self-Portrait in a Black Beret and Gold Chain (1654)
Self-Portrait (1658)
Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659)
Self-Portrait (1660)
Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul (1662)
Self-Portrait as Zeuxis Laughing (1662)
Self-Portrait with Two Circles (1665–1669)
Self-Portrait (c. 1669)
Self-Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669)

Drawings and prints
(including etchings)

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (1634)
Bearded Old Man (1634)
River with Trees (1634)
The Artist and his Model (1639)
The Death of the Virgin (1639)
The Mill (1641)
The Three Trees (1643)
The State Bed (1646)
Portrait of Jan Six (1647)
Hundred Guilder Print (1647–1649)
Conus Marmoreus (1650)
Goldweigher's Field (1651)
Doctor Fautrieus (1652)
Descent from the Cross by Torchlight (1652)
The Three Crosses (1653)
The Virgin and Child with a Cat (1654)
Christ Presented to the People (1655)
Mughal drawings

Works about
Rembrandt

Bibliography of Rembrandt
Cultural depictions of Rembrandt
Rembrandt (1936 film)
Rembrandt (1940 film)
Rembrandt (1942 film)
Rembrandt: A Self-Portrait (1954 documentary film)
Rembrandt fecit 1669 (1977 film)
The Anatomy Lesson (1995 novel)
Rembrandt (1999 film)
Stealing Rembrandt (2003 film)
Nightwatching (2007 film )
Rembrandt's J'Accuse (2008 documentary)
I Am Rembrandt's Daughter (2008 novel)
The Rembrandt Affair (2010 novel)

Namesakes

Rembrandt, Iowa
Rembrandtplein
Rembrandtpark
Rembrandt (crater)
Rembrandt (train)
Vereniging Rembrandt (foundation)

¹ Contested
² Stolen in 1990

v t e Ten Commandments
Tablets of Stone · Finger of God · Ritual Decalogue
Commandments	I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt have no other gods before me Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy Honour thy father and thy mother Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour Thou shalt not covet
Topics	Moses Biblical Mount Sinai Mount Sinai Mount Horeb Ark of the Covenant lid Book of Exodus The Exodus
In art	Descent from Mount Sinai (Sistine Chapel, 1481-1482 painting) Moses (c. 1513–1515 sculpture) Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah (c. 1645-1650 painting) Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659 painting) Catholic Total Abstinence Union Fountain (1876) Moses (1962 sculpture) Moses (1968 sculptures, 3/3)
Media	The Ten Commandments (1923 film) The Ten Commandments (1956 film) Les Dix Commandements (2000 musical) The Ten Commandments (2004 musical) The Ten Commandments (2006 miniseries) The Ten (2007 film) The Ten Commandments (2007 film) I Am (2010 film) The Ten Commandments (2016 film)
Related	Joshua In Catholic theology Tabot Alternatives 613 commandments Seven Laws of Noah Great Commandment Golden Rule Ethics in the Bible