Horns or a Halo? :-)

When I was looking up art portraying Alexander the Great, I saw some pieces showing him with horns. This reminded me of another work of art where the subject is wearing a pair of horns ... Michelangelo's Moses. I thought I had remembered an art history teacher saying that horns symbolize power in ancient/medieval art, but I could have remembered incorrectly, as Wikipedia has another explination .....

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Michelangelo's Moses is marble sculpture executed by Michelangelo Buonarroti 1513-1515 which depicts the Biblical figure Moses ...... The statue depicts Moses with horns on his head. This is believed to be because of the mistranslation of Exodus 34:29-35 by St Jerome. Moses is actually described as having "karan ohr"--"rays of light"--coming from his head, which Jerome in the Vulgate had translated as "horns" (See Halo). The mistake in translation is possible because the word "keren" in the Hebrew language can mean either "ray" or "horn" .......

The leader of Israel is shown seated, the tables of the Law under one arm, his other hand gripping the coils of his beard. This figure of Moses can be imagined as him pausing after the ecstasy of receiving the Law on Mount Sinai, while, in the valley below, the people of Israel give themselves up once more to idolatry. Here again, Michelangelo uses a turned head, which concentrates the expression of awful wrath that now begins to stir on the mighty frame and eyes.

The relevance of each detail of body and drapery in forcing up the psychic temperature can be appreciated by closely studying the work — the muscles bulge, the veins swell, the great legs begin slowly to move. If this titan ever rose to his feet, says one writer, the world would fly apart. The holy rage of Moses mounts to the bursting point, yet must be contained, for the free release of energies in action is forbidden forever to Michelangelo's passion-stricken beings.

Michelangelo felt that this was his most life-like creation. Legend has it that upon its completion he struck the right knee commanding, "now speak!" as he felt that life was the only thing left inside the marble. There is a scar on the knee thought to be the mark of Michelangelo's hammer .....

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- Moses, in marble, at San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome