Moses

About Moses

Moses, known in Italian as Mosè, is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti in Rome’s Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli. Michelangelo created the statue for the tomb of Pope Julius II, a commission that began in 1505 and was completed in a reduced form in 1545. Moses stands at the centre of the tomb’s lower level, which is set against the wall of the basilica’s right transept. The seated biblical figure holds the Tablets of the Law beneath his right arm and is shown with a long beard and curling hair. The sculpture is part of the tomb monument rather than an independent museum display. San Pietro in Vincoli, also called the Eudoxian Basilica, is a historic church traditionally associated with the chains of Saint Peter, which are kept beneath the high altar. The basilica is in Rome’s Monti area, on Piazza di San Pietro in Vincoli, near the Colosseum. The church’s religious function remains central to the setting of Michelangelo’s work.

Sources

• www.lateranensi.org
• www.turismoroma.it
• www.turismoroma.it
• www.italia.it

Checked 2026-09-02

Where it is

• 45 min

  2 min walk

  Aurelian Walls

  • Must see · Heritage site
  • Historic monument
• 45 min

  5 min walk

  Domus Aurea

  • High · Heritage site
  • Historic monument
• 1 hour

  4 min walk

  Oppian Hill

  • High
  • Nature site

External links

• View on Wikidata