Description
The Trials of Moses is a fresco painted by Sandro Botticelli and his workshop in 1481–1482 in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. One landscape tells the youth of Moses: the killing of the Egyptian, the flight, the shepherds at the well, Jethro’s daughters, the burning bush and the departure of the Israelites. The original, 348.5 x 558 cm, is still on the chapel wall. Our painter paints it by hand in oil on canvas, in 5 landscape sizes from 90 x 55 to 200 x 130 cm or made to measure, and you receive a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | The Trials of Moses |
| Other titles: | Prove di Mosè (Italian title) · Youth of Moses |
| Painter: | Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510) |
| Year painted: | 1481–1482 |
| Original size: | 348.5 cm x 558 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Fresco |
| Painting style: | Early Renaissance |
| Located at: | Sistine Chapel, Vatican City |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 5 sizes or made to measure |
The Trials of Moses – Sandro Botticelli
What does The Trials of Moses show?
A green landscape of tall trees and soft hills opens under a blue sky, with a classical building at the right edge. Moses wears a yellow robe and a green cloak in every scene, so the eye can follow him.
The story starts at the lower right: Moses strikes down an Egyptian who had mistreated a Hebrew, while a woman leads the wounded man to safety. Higher up, he runs off towards the horizon.
In the centre he drives off two shepherds with his staff, then pours water into the trough by the stone well, under a tree with a pulley. Jethro’s daughters stand beside him in pale dresses, one holding a staff.
At the upper left he takes off his shoes among the sheep and kneels barefoot before the burning bush, where God appears as a white-haired old man in red. At the lower left he leads a crowd of turbaned men, women and children; a boy carries a little white dog.
What story does the fresco tell?
The scenes come from the Book of Exodus. Moses kills an Egyptian who had harassed a Hebrew and flees from Pharaoh to the land of Midian. At a well there he protects the daughters of the priest Jethro from the shepherds and waters their flock. One of them, Zipporah, will become his wife.
While he tends the sheep, God calls him: Moses removes his shoes before the burning bush and is sent back to Egypt to lead his people out of bondage. The last scene shows him guiding the Israelites towards the Promised Land.
The frieze above carries the Latin inscription TEMPTATIO MOISI LEGIS SCRIPTAE LATORIS: the trial of Moses, bearer of the written law. The chapel walls set the lives of Moses and Christ side by side, and the killing of the Egyptian is read as the counterpart of Jesus defeating the Devil on the opposite wall.
Why is The Trials of Moses so famous?
It belongs to the first great campaign of wall painting in the Sistine Chapel, for which Pope Sixtus IV brought Florentine painters to Rome to work beside Perugino; three of the twelve surviving wall frescoes are by Botticelli.
The painters shared one scale for the figures and gold highlights that glowed by torchlight; of Botticelli’s three scenes, this one is often called the most coherent.
Zipporah, the girl with the staff by the well, is especially famous: in the first volume of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, Swann realises he loves Odette when he sees how much she resembles Botticelli’s Zipporah.
Botticelli’s third fresco here is The Punishment of the Rebels, where the earth swallows Korah, Dathan and Abiram for rising against Moses and Aaron. English Wikipedia files our fresco as Youth of Moses; its article, in English, explains each scene.
Where can you see the original?
It has never moved: it is painted onto the south wall of the Sistine Chapel, facing scenes from the life of Christ on the north wall.
On 27 October 1480 Botticelli left for Rome with other Florentine painters, part of the reconciliation between Lorenzo de’ Medici, the de facto ruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV; by spring 1481 at the latest they were at work.
Helped by many assistants, he painted three scenes. His contract was extended on 17 February 1482, but his father died three days later and Botticelli went home to Florence for good.
Born Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi around 1445, he trained under Filippo Lippi; his earliest documented work is Fortitude, from 1470.
The Trials of Moses or another Botticelli?
The Trials of Moses is a canvas painting for anyone who enjoys stories: every look finds a new face or a sheep. Its wide format suits a wall above a sofa or a sideboard.
For a pair from the Sistine Chapel, add The Temptations of Christ, painted for the opposite wall. If you prefer a scene of the birth of Jesus, look at The Mystical Nativity.
The full range, from the frescoes to the Madonnas, is on our Sandro Botticelli page, which gathers the famous Botticelli paintings we paint to order.
How do we hand-paint The Trials of Moses?
Botticelli’s original is not on canvas: it is a fresco painted directly on the chapel wall, 348.5 x 558 cm. What we make is a Sandro Botticelli reproduction of the whole fresco as the photograph shows it, painted by hand in oil on canvas, layer by layer, so it can travel rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed.
The painter first blocks in the sky, the treetops, the hills, the pale road and the building, then places each group so that the path of Moses still reads from right to left. Faces, robes, turbans, fleece and leaves follow, and last come the gold highlights and the flames of the bush.
Which size fits your wall?
In short: 90 x 55 cm for a hallway or a home office, 110 x 72 to 130 x 80 cm above a chest of drawers or a sofa, and 165 x 100 or 200 x 130 cm for a really large wall.
We paint The Trials of Moses in 5 landscape sizes (width x height): 90 x 55, 110 x 72, 130 x 80, 165 x 100 and 200 x 130 cm. The fresco in the Vatican measures 558 x 348.5 cm (width x height), so every one of our sizes is far smaller; even the largest reaches only a little over a third of its width.
With so many small figures, a larger format pays off. Even at 90 x 55 cm you can make out Zipporah and the sheep at the trough. As a painting for the living room it comes into its own from 130 x 80 cm, and the two largest sizes suit a long sofa or a stairwell.
Can I order a custom size, and which frame should I choose?
Yes. For other proportions we keep every scene whole and adjust only the sky, the ground in front or a strip of landscape at the edge, so you still get an oil painting reproduction of the entire story. Tell us your measurements and we will come back with a price and a date.
It leaves us rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed, the stretching and framing done by our workshop in Slovenia. In our 3D app you pick the frame moulding only; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will your Trials of Moses arrive?
Expect the painting to be ready to ship 15 to 45 working days after you confirm the order. Before it leaves, we send you a photograph of it finished and make any change you ask for.
Inside the EU, Slovenia included, it travels with no customs charges, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
A fine gift for lovers of the Bible or the Renaissance. Unsure of their wall? A wall art voucher lets them choose the painting and size themselves.
Frequently asked questions
Which building holds the original fresco?
The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, on its south wall.
What happens at the well?
Moses drives off the shepherds and waters the flock; Zipporah, one of the daughters, becomes his wife.
Is this a print or a photo on canvas?
No. Our painter makes a hand-painted copy, brushstroke by brushstroke, in oil paint on canvas.
How big is the fresco in the Vatican?
348.5 x 558 cm (height x width); every one of our sizes is far smaller.
Is a size outside the list possible?
Yes. Give us the width and height you want and we quote a price and a delivery date.
How quickly will it reach me, and how is it sent?
It is ready for dispatch within 15 to 45 working days, rolled, stretched or framed.
Does it suit a dining room too?
Yes. Its greens and golds go well with wooden furniture and pale walls.
Why does Moses always wear yellow and green?
The yellow robe and green cloak are his sign in every scene.
- Subject: the youth of Moses: the Egyptian, the flight, Jethro’s daughters at the well, the burning bush and the exodus.
- Original: fresco, 1481–1482, 348.5 x 558 cm, Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
- Ours: Moses hand-painted in oil on canvas, 5 landscape sizes from 90 x 55 to 200 x 130 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: facing it, on the north wall of the chapel, is Botticelli’s fresco of the temptations of Christ.
