The Adoration of the Golden Calf by Claude Lorraine

Acquisition of The Adoration of the Golden Calf by Claude Lorraine, painted in 1660. Oil on canvas; 112.8 x 156.6cms Painting depicting Exodus 32, 1-20. On far left, Moses and the boy Joshua make their way down the hillside with the Tablets of the Law, which they have brought down from Mount Sinai. Before them, in foreground, in a clearing framed with trees, the Israelites are worshipping the idol of a golden calf on an altar. The Israelites are gathered around a single carved column, topped with a small gold calf, with several of their number dancing on the right. Beyond the scene the forest extends away to mountains in the distance. The painting has been in England ince the mid-18th century. In the 19th century it was in the Morrison Collection at Basildon Park.