Moses

The narrow panel is filled by the standing half-length figure of Moses, turned to the right and shown with a white beard. On the scroll held in his right hand his name can be read: MOISES PROFETA, to which he points with his long, delicate finger.

The energetic face, with its deep-set dark eyes, conveys a dramatic expression. The grey moustache and beard surrounding the closed lips, as well as the chiaroscuro modelling of the wavy grey hair falling from the balding head onto the shoulders, likewise suggest the prophet’s agitated state of mind. The halo is decorated with circles of varying size. The curve of the scroll also serves to emphasize the head.

The prophet wears a yellow garment and a red mantle, which envelops his figure closely with sharply cut folds, so that only his two hands remain visible. The surface of the painting, especially the paint layer of the mantle, is very worn, and the original surface modelling is therefore no longer known. Ramboux not only added the pointed-arch gable to the painting, but probably also narrowed the panel.

(Prokopp Mária, 1993)

Provenance

Arnold Ipolyi’s purchase from the Ramboux estate in Cologne, 1867

Bibliography

• Cséfalvay Pál, szerk.: Keresztény Múzeum, Esztergom. Budapest, 1993. 216. kat. sz. 73. (Prokopp Mária)
• Mucsi András: Az esztergomi Keresztény Múzeum Régi Képtárának katalógusa. Budapest, 1975, 34 -35 . "Ugolino Lorenzetti"
• Boskovits Miklós: Korai olasz táblaképek, Budapest, 1966. 34;
• Boskovits Miklós-Mojzer Miklós-Mucsi András: Az esztergomi Keresztény Múzeum képtára. Budapest, 1964, 40 -42.
• G. Coor (1956)
• Magyarország műemléki topográfiája I. Esztergom műemlékei, összeállította: Genthon István. Budapest, 1948. "Ambrogio Lorenzetti?"
• G. Delogu,1936 "Ugolino da Siena"
• Berti Toesca, Elena: Arte italiana a Strigonia. Dedalo, XII, 1932, 933–960."Ugolino da Siena"
• Péter András (1931) "a sienai S. Pietro d' Ovile oltárképének mestere"
• Gerevich (1928) "Lorenzetti-kör"
• Ipolyi (1871) "Mino da Siena"
• J. A . Ramboux gyűjteményéből katalógusa, 1867, 71. szám. "Mino da Siena"