Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Youth of Moses" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Trials of Moses
Artist	Sandro Botticelli and assistants
Year	1481–1482
Type	Fresco
Dimensions	348.5 cm × 558 cm (137.2 in × 220 in)
Location	Sistine Chapel, Rome

The Youth of Moses or The Trials of Moses is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli and his workshop, executed in 1481–1482 in the Sistine Chapel, Rome (modern-day Italy).

History

On 27 October 1480, Botticelli, together with other Florentine painters, left for Rome where he had been called as part of the reconciliation project between Lorenzo de' Medici, the de facto ruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel as early as the Spring of 1481, along with Pietro Perugino, who was already there.

The theme of the decoration was a parallel between the Stories of Moses and those of Christ, as a sign of continuity between the Old and the New Testament – a continuity also between the divine law of the Tables and the message of Jesus, who, in turn, chose Peter (the first alleged bishop of Rome) as his successor: this would finally result in a legitimation of the latter's successors, the popes of Rome.

Botticelli, helped by numerous assistants, painted three scenes. On 17 February 1482 his contract was renovated, including the other scenes to complete the chapel's decoration. However, on 20 February his father died: he returned to Florence, where he remained.

Description

The fresco shows several episodes of Moses' youth, taken from Exodus. It parallels the fresco on the opposite wall, also by Botticelli, which depicts the Temptations of Jesus. The frieze has the inscription TEMPTATIO MOISI LEGIS SCRIPTAE LATORIS.

On the right is Moses killing the Egyptian who had harassed a Hebrew, and fleeing to the desert (a parallel with the episode of Jesus defeating the Devil). In the next episode Moses fights the shepherds who were preventing Jethro's daughters (including his future wife, Zipporah) to water their cattle at the pit, and then takes the water for them. In the third scene, in the upper left corner, Moses removes his shoes and then receives from God the task to return to Egypt and free his people. Finally, in the lower left corner, he drives the Jews to the Promised Land.

Moses is always distinguishable in the scenes by his yellow dress and the green cloak.

See also

• List of works by Sandro Botticelli

Sources

• Santi, Bruno (2001). "Botticelli". I protagonisti dell'arte italiana. Florence: Scala.

External links

Media related to Trials and Calling of Moses at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Sandro Botticelli
List of works
Secular	Fortitude Primavera Pallas and the Centaur Venus and Mars The Birth of Venus Calumny of Apelles Illustrations to the Divine Comedy The Story of Nastagio Degli Onesti, part one Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman A Young Man Being Introduced to the Seven Liberal Arts The Story of Virginia The Story of Lucretia
Religious	Sant'Ambrogio Altarpiece The Discovery of the Body of Holofernes The Return of Judith to Bethulia Adoration of the Magi (Florence) Saint Sebastian Life of Esther Saint Augustine in His Study (Florence: Ognissanti) Sistine Chapel: Temptations of Christ, Youth of Moses and Punishment of the Sons of Korah Cestello Annunciation Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Munich) Saint Augustine in His Study (Florence: Uffizi) Pala delle Convertite (Trinity) Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Milan) The Last Communion of Saint Jerome The Mystical Nativity Mystic Crucifixion Scenes from the Life of Saint Zenobius The Man of Sorrows
Madonnas	Virgin and Child with an Angel (Florence) Madonna della Loggia Madonna and Child (Avignon) Madonna delle Grazie Madonna in Glory with Seraphim Madonna of the Rose Garden Virgin and Child with Two Angels (Naples) Virgin and Child with Two Angels (Strasbourg) Virgin and Child with an Angel (Boston) Bardi Madonna Madonna of the Magnificat Madonna of the Book Madonna of the Pomegranate Madonna Adoring the Child with Five Angels Annunciation Glascow New York Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist Madonna del Padiglione
Portraits	Portrait of Smeralda Brandini Young Man (London) Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici Young Man (Washington, D.C.) Young Woman (Frankfurt) Young Man (Florence) Portrait of a Young Man holding a Roundel
Related	Botticelli Inferno (2016 documentary) Botticelli (crater)

v t e Art of the Sistine Chapel
Life of Moses	Moses Leaving for Egypt The Youth of Moses The Crossing of the Red Sea The Descent from Mount Sinai The Punishment of the Sons of Korah Testament and Death of Moses
Life of Christ	The Baptism of Christ The Temptations of Christ The Vocation of the Apostles The Sermon on the Mount The Delivery of the Keys The Last Supper
Ceiling (Gallery)	Scenes from Genesis The Separation of Light from Darkness The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants The Separation of Land and Water The Creation of Adam The Creation of Eve The Fall and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden The Sacrifice of Noah The Flood The Drunkenness of Noah Prophets Jonah Jeremiah Ezekiel Joel Zechariah Isaiah Daniel Sibyls Persian Sibyl Erythraean Sibyl Delphic Sibyl Cumaean Sibyl Libyan Sibyl
Altar wall	The Last Judgment
Tapestries	Raphael Cartoons
Related	Art patronage of Julius II Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes Sistine Chapel Choir Room of Tears Vatican City The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965 film)
Key: Pietro Perugino Sandro Botticelli Cosimo Rosselli Domenico Ghirlandaio Biagio d'Antonio Piero di Cosimo Luca Signorelli Bartolomeo della Gatta Michelangelo Raphael Pope Sixtus IV Vatican City portal Catholicism portal

• 1482 paintings
• Paintings by Sandro Botticelli
• Sistine Chapel wall frescoes
• Paintings of Moses
• Sheep in art
• Zipporah