Who painted Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow?

Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow was painted by Ludovico Mazzolino in 1527.

Where can I see Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow?

Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow is held by Rijksmuseum.

What movement is Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow?

Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow is associated with Mannerism.

Artwork

Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow

Ludovico Mazzolino , 1527

Moses and the ten commandments, the fig tree, and the widow is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Ludovico Mazzolino. It dates from 1527 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

About this work

Technique & Style

The work was executed in oil paint on a wooden panel, a technique typical of Italian Renaissance religious paintings of the 1520s.

The work was executed in oil paint on a wooden panel, a technique typical of Italian Renaissance religious paintings of the 1520s. The surface bears the characteristic handling of Lodovico Mazzolino, whose small‑scale compositions often combined narrative clarity with richly textured brushwork. Formal analysis notes a restrained compositional balance, with the central figure of Moses framed by the fig tree and the widow, rendered in muted tonal values that emphasize the narrative moment of divine law transmission.

History & Provenance

The painting is held by the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. It is inventoried there as SK-C-17275.

The work has been exhibited once in the museum’s galleries, in 1956, as part of the exhibition "Italiaanse Kunst uit Nederlandse Verzamelingen" (Italian Art from Dutch Collections).

Overview

Ludovico Mazzolino’s oil painting, executed in 1527, presents a densely populated religious tableau. The composition stretches horizontally, filled with figures in vivid reds, blues and golds, set against a dark backdrop. Central to the scene is a solitary fig tree bearing fruit, while a luminous tablet is held aloft on the left. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection.

Subject & Meaning

The image intertwines three biblical moments: Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, the symbolic fig tree, and a widow’s supplication. The tablet’s glow emphasizes divine law, the solitary fig suggests providence or temptation, and the kneeling figures at a table evoke charity or prayer. Together they convey themes of covenant, sustenance, and piety within a single visual narrative.

Context

The work reflects the diffusion of Renaissance ideas northward, merging Italian narrative conventions with the heightened expressiveness favored by Mannerist artists. Its crowded composition mirrors contemporary devotional prints that sought to educate viewers through multiple scriptural episodes within a single frame, a practice common in Counter‑Reformation visual culture.

Moses and the Tablets of the Law, the Curse of the Withered Fig Tree, and the Widow's Mite, Ludovico Mazzolino

Artist & collection

Artist

Ludovico Mazzolino

Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 – c. 1528) - also known as Mazzolini da Ferrara, Lodovico Ferraresa, and Il Ferrarese - was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Ferrara and Bologna.