Italian school; 18th century

Italian school; 18th century.
"Adoration of the golden calf".
Oil on canvas. Re-tinted in the 19th century.
It has repainting and damage caused by xylophages on the canvas and frame.
It has a 20th century frame.
Measurements: 40 x 52 cm; 52 x 63 cm (frame).
In this work we can observe the adoration of the Golden Calf narrated in the Exodus of the Bible. The statue of the animal is placed in the centre of the composition, while it is adored by a multitude representing the Israelite people. The calf's privileged position in the composition is surpassed by Moses' representation of Moses pointing to the animal. The biblical text narrates "God spoke all these words: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. Yahweh said to Moses: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold to set beside me. The representation of scenes from the Old Testament was an iconographic source frequently used in the Counter-Reformation Baroque, within a context of precise planning of the religious image, due to the accumulation of reflections and the theological-symbolic language underlying its themes. The Old Testament is then read in terms of a fundamental interpretative key: the figure of Christ. Thus, the baroque church interprets the Old Testament from the point of view of the New Testament, pointing to symbols and premonitions of the Messiah in its passages and protagonists. Thus, at first, the appropriateness of certain passages is carefully analysed, or special emphasis is placed on those that more specifically constitute a symbolic premonition of Christ, in a rigorous effort of zeal to defend the strictest orthodoxy, and insistence is placed on extolling the personages who prefigure the Messiah, among whom Moses stands out.