The Adoration of the Golden Calf

Painting by Nicolas Poussin

For the Biblical event itself, see golden calf.

The Adoration of the Golden Calf

Artist| Nicolas Poussin
Year| 1633–1634
Medium| Oil on canvas
Dimensions| 154 cm × 214 cm (61 in × 84 in)
Location| National Gallery, London

The Adoration of the Golden Calf is a painting by Nicolas Poussin, produced between 1633 and 1634. It is held in the National Gallery, in London.

## History

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It depicts the adoration of the golden calf by the Israelites, from chapter 32 of the Book of Exodus. It was made as part of a pair of paintings (the other being The Crossing of the Red Sea) commissioned by Amadeo dal Pozzo, Marchese di Voghera of Turin, a cousin to Cassiano dal Pozzo, Poussin's main sponsor in Rome. By 1685 the pair had passed to the Chevalier de Lorraine and in 1710 they were bought by Benigne de Ragois de Bretonvillers. In 1741 they were bought from Samuel by Sir Jacob Bouverie, whose son William became the first Earl of Radnor. The Earls of Radnor owned the pair from then until 1945, when it was split for the first time and The Adoration of the Golden Calf bought by the National Gallery in London for £10,000, half of which was contributed by the Art Fund.[1] (The Crossing of the Red Sea was bought in the same 1945 sale by the National Gallery of Victoria.) It now hangs in Room 19 of the National Gallery, where it and Poussin's The Adoration of the Shepherds were vandalised with red spray paint on 17 July 2011.[2][3] The French-speaking vandal covered up most of the nude figures.[2]

## Description

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The painting's subject follows an event described in the Book of Exodus, chapter 32: during Moses' ascent to Mount Sinai, Aaron gathered the people's gold to build a Golden Calf, an idol inspired by the Egyptians deities, despite the prohibition of the third commandment of the Decalogue. Moses, returning back with Joshua, discovers the scene of idolatry, lifts the tablets of the Law to break them.

The canvas shows the Golden Calf, placed on a base surmounted by an ornate pedestal, slightly at the left of the center of the composition, who is surrounded by a farandole of female and male dancers, on the left, and a kneeling crowd, on the right, leaning and listening to Aaron, who appears dressed in white. The decoration of the painting includes two trees on either side, a dry one on the right, and another bearing foliage on the left, in the direction of the two men descending from the mountain, Moses and Joshua. Moses, who holds the tablets of the Law above his head, is about to break them, in outrage over the idolatry of the people.

## See also

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* List of paintings by Nicolas Poussin

## References

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1. ^ "The Adoration of the Golden Calf by Nicolas Poussin".
2. ^ a b Wilson, Cherry (16 July 2011). "Man held after Poussin painting is vandalised at National Gallery". The Observer. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021.
3. ^ "Poussin paintings vandalised at National Gallery". BBC News. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021.

## External links

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* National Gallery catalogue entry

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Nicolas Poussin

List of paintings

Paintings|

* The Death of Chione (1622)
* The Battle between the Israelites and the Amorites (c. 1625)
* Joshua's Battle against the Amalekites (c. 1625)
* Venus and Adonis (1626)
* The Capture of Jerusalem by Titus (1626; 1635)
* The Death of Germanicus (1627)
* Venus Weeping for Adonis (c. 1626-1627)
* Saint Cecilia (1627–1628)
* Echo and Narcissus (1627–1628)
* The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus (1628–1629)
* The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (1628–1629)
* Plague of Ashdod (1628–1630)
* Cephalus and Aurora (c. 1629–1630)
* The Inspiration of the Poet (1629–1630)
* Sleeping Venus with Cupid (1628–1630)
* Saint James the Great's Vision of the Virgin Mary (c. 1629–1630)
* The Massacre of the Innocents (1625–1632)
* Parnassus (c. 1631–1633)
* A Bacchanalian Revel Before a Term (1632–1633)
* The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1633–1634)
* Adoration of the Shepherds (1633–1634)
* The Crossing of the Red Sea (1633–1634)
* The Rape of the Sabine Women (1634–1635, 1637–1638)
* A Dance to the Music of Time (1634–1636)
* Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite (c. 1636)
* Camillus Handing the Falerian Schoolmaster over to his Pupils (1637)
* Et in Arcadia ego (1637–38)
* Theseus Rediscovering His Father's Sword (1638)
* The Manna (1638–1639)
* Extreme Unction (1638–1640)
* The Continence of Scipio (1640)
* Landscape with Saint John on Patmos (1640)
* The Funeral of Phocion (1648)
* Landscape with the Ashes of Phocion (1648)
* Eliezer and Rebecca (1648–1649)
* The Judgement of Solomon (1649)
* Landscape with Polyphemus (1649)
* Self-Portrait (1649)
* Landscape with Three Figures (1645–1650)
* Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice (1650–1653)
* The Flight into Egypt (1657–1658)
* Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun (1658)
* Landscape with Two Nymphs (1659)
* Landscape with Hercules and Cacus (c. 1660)
* Eliezer and Rebecca (1660-1665)
* Apollo and Daphne (1661–1664)

Painting series|

* Seven Sacraments (first series 1637–1640; second series 1644–1648)
* The Four Seasons (1660–1664)

Museums|

* Musée Nicolas Poussin

Related|

* Poussinists and Rubenists

* v
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* e

Book of Exodus media

Art|

* The Crossing of the Red Sea (1482)
* Crossing of the Red Sea (1542)
* The Crossing of the Red Sea (1634)
* The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1634)
* The Manna (c. 1638)
* Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659)
* The Fifth Plague of Egypt (1800)
* Victory O Lord! (1871)
* Dance Around the Golden Calf (1910)

Film|

| Biblical|

* The Ten Commandments (1923)
* The Moon of Israel (1924)
* The Ten Commandments (1956)
* Moses und Aron (1973)
* Moses the Lawgiver (1974)
* Moses (1995)
* The Prince of Egypt (1998)
* The Exodus Decoded (2006)
* The Ten Commandments (2006)
* The Ten Commandments (2007)
* Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
* The Ten Commandments: The Movie (2016)
* Seder-Masochism (2018)

|

Modern settings|

* The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
* The Reaping (2007)
* Exodus (2007)

Musical|

* Les Dix Commandements (2000)
* The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2004)
* The Prince of Egypt (2015)

Opera|

* Mosè in Egitto (1818)
* Moïse et Pharaon, ou Le passage de la mer rouge (1827)
* Moses und Aron (1951)

Music|

* Israel in Egypt (1739)
* Creeping Death (1984)
* Exodus (2002)
* Plague Songs (2006)

Television|

* "Duke and the Great Pie War" (2005)
* "Moe and the Big Exit" (2007)
* Os Dez Mandamentos (2015 telenovela)

Literature|

* Exodus (10th century)
* Moon of Israel (1918)
* Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939)
* The Tables of the Law (1944)

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