The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-10-12
THE HEAD OF MOSES.
WHY THE LEADER OF ISRAEL IS REP
RESENTED WITH HORNS.

The Error which Gnve Root to the
Curious idrn That IL Perpetunted
by Paintings, Coins nnd statues
Michael Angeles Masterpiece.
In one Of the schools Of the District IL
copy Of Michael Angeles "Moscs."
That small statucttc was n storm con
ter for weeks, the pupils and teachers
vylng with each other I'm an attempt 10
find an answer 10 the question Of one
Of the small pupils who gravcly que
ricd the why Of the inclplcnt horns
which ornamcntcd the head Of the
rugged leader Of the lsraclitcs as he IL
represented I'm this masterpiece Of Mi
chacl Angeles, masterpiece. by the
way, which started out To be II JOvc or
some other fiction of the brain. but
which the great sculptor finally shaped
into the likeness Of Pope Julius and
christcncd Moses"
For 40 years, just as long as Moses
and his people wandered I'm the will
dcrncss, this statue stood I'm the work
shop Of It's gifted creator before the
world saw IL, but II types today the
universal conception Of the great law
glvcr, horns and all.
It has been known for centuries,
though, that the translation Of IIabak-
kuk, which says, "And his brightness
was rs light; he had horns coming out
of his head" is Incorrect and the mis-.
take Of the "intcligcnt compOsltor,"
II.
up on his "h's" ana "c's" aud made
"qaran" head "qcrcn," as nearly M
Hebrew can bc made into cold Eng
lsh. The former means rays" the
latter means "hOrns," and there you
are.
st. Jerome In rendering "his face
shOnc" i'm the passage I'm Exodus gave
Il It's primitive meaning and mlstrnns-
latlon and has sent down 10 us through
the ages "faCicm cssc cOrnatum," be-
Ing 'his face was horned" Thus It
seems that a mistake stcrcotypcd In
stone remains to torment the youth
who likes to know the why Of things.
Just why artists and sculptors keep
on perpctuntlng this idea Is one of the
inscrutablc things Of life. But more
than anybody else perhaps artists cling
10 tradition, and since the great mas
tcrs gave Moses horns IL must be the
proper thing To do, and that Is probn-
bly, why he wears horns In modern as
well ms mcdlmval art.
In the Congressional library, on the
south side of the big sunnowcr clock.
is n gigantic bronze Moses by Nlchnus
and he has horns that look not unlike
those wonderful bumps that Ben But
lcr's big head used TO wear. In the
Boston library John Sergeant, the
great painter for n ccntcrplccc TO
procession of the prophets painted
like Texas steer, and Unfolding him Is
n queer conventional kind Of drapcry
that looks like eagles wings.
In striking and pleasing contrast TO
these horned conceptions which the
nnclcnts have imposed upon us and
which we still accept Is n copy of II
splendid Moses by rlockhorst repre-
scntlng the arChnngcl Michael strug
Cling with Satan for the dead body Of
Moses, which Is upborEc 10y three little
angels. The Moses has instead oC horns
upon his grandly conceived head rays
OF light which seem To mellow and
soften the stern face of the dead law
givcr. Plockhorst has painted real
child angels. too, not fat little kids
with legs ana arms like prizcfghtcrs
and bodies like beer tanks This hello
tint, which Is In the library of con-
grcss, is present from the royal gal
lCry I'm Berlin.
Nicolas PouSsln painted some % pie
lures of Moses from pudgy little ba-
10y In the bulrush basket TO Moses "on
gray Bcthpeor's height" some of them
with horns and some of them without.
Five of these pictures are of the baby
I'm the water nud just ont of II. and the
heads are rs varied as those of Colum-
bus OH the exposition postage stamps.
Some OF them look like advertisements
for hair rcstoratlvcs and others as
though wigs would enhance the ap-
pcarancc of the baldhCadcd babies
whose painted faces look as many
years old rs the baby Moses had lived
minutes when found hy Thcrmutis.
Another 10y this author has horns that
extend out from the sides of the head
like the ears of mule and represents
Moses as striking the rock I'm the will
derncss. This Is n very funny picture,
anyway. for the camcls have heads
like horses, and the horses look like al
most anything that stands on four legs
excepting horses.
This curious idea Of horned Moses
has not only been pcrpctuatcd by
paintings, coins and statues, but has al
so passed muster with many writer's Of
acknowledged fame. Grotius, for In
stance. Identifies Moses with the horn
ed Mnevis of Egypt and suggests that
the phenomenon was intended 10 ~
mind the Isracltes of the golden calf.
Spanheim, however. stigmatizcs the cf-
forts Of art I'm this direction as "prcpos-
ferrous industry" and distinctly attrih-
utcs 10 Jerome n veritable belief I'm the
horns OF Moses. Crude as Is the mis-
translation not one person In ten. rs
the schooltcachers and pupils found
out. have any idea why Il is that art
lists and sculptors still depict Moses
with horns. Washington Star.