Image Details

Moses Receiving the Scroll of the Law: Moses stands within a deep mountain gorge; on either side rise the barren granite rocks of Mount Sinai. Moses averts his face so as not to look upon God from whose hand he receives the scroll. The representation of the Law as a rolled parchment scroll, rather than as tablets, reflects the early date of this work; representation of the Law on two stone tablets with rounded tops did not begin until the Middle Ages. The mosaic pictured here is above the apse and triumphal arch on the right side of the double window in the eastern wall of the Church of Saint. Moses loosening his sandals is opposite it on the left. Beyond the wall on which this mosaic appears is the mountain where tradition tells us Moses received the tablets of the Law.