Michelangelo’s statue of Moses has horns on its head. The unusual detail reflects a long Western Christian artistic tradition based on the Latin Vulgate Bible, whose description of Moses after encountering God was understood as “horned.” The underlying Hebrew wording can also suggest rays or radiance, which is why other artists represented Moses with beams of light.
Michelangelo carved the marble Moses around 1513–1515 for the monumental tomb of Pope Julius II. The statue is now in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, where it occupies the centre of the tomb’s lower level. Moses is shown seated, powerfully bearded, and gripping the tablets of the Law.
The horns are not meant to indicate that Moses is a demon or mythological creature. In medieval and Renaissance art they could function as signs of divine glory, although later interpretations have also examined the imagery’s connection to anti-Jewish stereotypes. The statue’s intense expression has inspired extensive commentary, including Sigmund Freud’s famous 1914 essay on Michelangelo’s Moses.