Statue of Moses with horns

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 13 May 2005

This statue, which caught my attention at the time, is of Moses, with the stumps of horns clearly visible on his head. It is a detail from Image; see that photograph for a view of the whole building in its context. See Image for a more distant view, and Image for a view from a different angle. The booklet "The Story of the Clark Memorial Church, Largs", by C. H. H. Scobie, says that "high on the outside of the West Gable are statues of Moses and St John, the former having The Tablet of Stone in his hands and the weathered remains of horns symbolising courage and virility upon his head". As an explanation of the intended symbolism here, that may be the case. However, there is a longer tradition behind such imagery: I was reminded of a much earlier work, namely, Michelangelo's sculpture "Moses" (1513—15), which likewise depicts him with horns (he is portrayed in the same manner in other medieval works, but Michelangelo's sculpture is one of the most prominent examples). The reason for the horns on Michelangelo's "Moses" is a Biblical passage — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+34%3A29-30&version=ASV (Exodus 34:29—30) — in which, as an after-effect of what is described(*) in Exodus 33:18—23 — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+33%3A18-23&version=ASV — Moses' face "shone" or "became radiant". Here, the Latin Vulgate text literally says that his face was "horned"; the original Hebrew text had used a word very similar to that for "horn" to express the idea of the skin of Moses' face "sending forth beams" or "emitting rays". [(*) This was the second time Moses had been on Mt Sinai (aka Mt Horeb) for a full forty days, and it was only on this second occasion that his face was radiant when he returned.] Incidentally, although Moses is sometimes depicted with a single stone tablet, as here, the Commandments were written upon TWO tablets, each having writing on both sides. Moses smashed the first pair in anger upon being confronted with a scene of blatant idolatry — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+32%3A15-20&version=KJ21 (Ex 32:15—20) —, and subsequently had to carve another pair of tablets (though not the writing on them) for himself: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+34%3A1&version=KJ21 (Exodus 34:1). Some months later, when the Ark of the Covenant had been constructed, the tablets were placed inside; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+40%3A20&version=CEV (Exodus 40:20) and https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb+9%3A3-4&version=KJ21 (Hebrews 9:3-4). Other objects said to have been housed in the Ark of the Covenant temporarily were a gold jar of manna and Aaron's rod that budded: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews+9%3A4&version=NIV (Hebrews 9:4) / https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+16%3A33&version=NIV (Exodus 16:33) / https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+17%3A10&version=NIV (Numbers 17:10), both of which items were removed at some unspecified later time: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+8%3A9&version=NIV (1 Kings 8:9).

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