RELIEF PANEL WITH MOSES AND THE TEN-COMMANDMENT TABLETS

France, 16th / 17th century.
White, red, pink and black marble, hewn and engraved. Moses standing with the Two Tablets of the Law. Shaped frame. Verso, set in an iron frame.
68 × 86 cm.

Chip and crack.

Provenance:
- From a Paris collection.
- Munich Collection.

The Ten Commandments in the version of the Genevan reformer and Huguenot father, John Calvin. The latter, in contrast to the Lutherans and the medieval Christian tradition, maintained the prohibition of images (3rd Commandment). To the Old Testament version, Calvin added Jesus' New Testament double-commandment of Love of God and Love of Neighbor.
Along with the Creed and the Lord's Prayer (Our Father), the Ten Commandments constituted the main component of Reformed worship. The tablets with the Ten Commandments also had an important function as a substitute for images in the Huguenot Church in France.