Moses with the Tables of Law

De Gheyn usually created his religious scenes using Karel van Mander’s designs. In this case, however, he made the design himself. Moses, the central figure in this print, points with his right hand to the Tables of Law, which he had received from God on Mount Sinai. Here, the tablets were left empty, even though in two identical prints preserved in Brussels the tablets feature handwritten Dutch text. The central scene is flanked by the personification of Christian love (along with Christ on the cross above it) and Faith (above it, Moses holds a pole on which he mounted a bronze snake, thus saving the Israelites from poisonous snakes; this scene prefigures Crucifixion). The bottom left features the scene of Christ’s baptism while the bottom right shows The Last Supper.