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Original fileDans rond het gouden kalf
About This Work
A group of Israelites is shown in the foreground engaged in music, feasting, and a circular dance. In the center, the Golden Calf sits atop a high, slender column as the object of their worship. To the left, Moses stands on a rocky cliff holding the Stone Tablets, looking down at the transgression of his people.
This scene illustrates the conflict between divine revelation and material idolatry, a theme frequently addressed in Renaissance philosophy regarding the 'lower' passions and the corruption of sacred knowledge. Esoteric interpretations often linked the Golden Calf to the Egyptian bull-god Apis, representing a fall from the pure 'Prisca Theologia' into physical superstition.
Inscriptions
Conflato gelidis Horebi in vallibus auro, Quem colerent vitulum composuere bouem, Exod . 32.
Translation
Melted from gold in the cold valleys of Horeb, They fashioned the calf, an ox they might worship, Exod. 32
Connected Texts
Philo of Alexandria
Philo's allegorical interpretations of the Pentateuch view the Golden Calf as a symbol of the soul's surrender to the material senses over the intelligible world.
Exodus 32
The primary scriptural source for the narrative of the idol's creation and Moses' descent from Sinai.
Collections
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 190 mm x width 264 mm
religious
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.