''The Adoration of the Golden Calf'' is a painting by Nicolas Poussin, produced between 1633 and 1634. It depicts the adoration of the golden calf by the Israelites, from chapter 32 of the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...

. It was made as part of a pair of paintings (the other being '' The Crossing of the Red Sea'') commissioned by Amadeo dal Pozzo, Marchese di Voghera of Turin, a cousin to Cassiano dal Pozzo, Poussin's main sponsor in Rome. By 1685 the pair had passed to the Chevalier de Lorraine and in 1710 they were bought by Benigne de Ragois de Bretonvillers. In 1741 they were bought from Samuel by Sir Jacob Bouverie, whose son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

became the first

Earl of Radnor Earl of Radnor, in the County of Wiltshire, is a title which has been created twice. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1679 for John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, a notable political figure of the reign of Charles II. The ea ...

. The Earls of Radnor owned the pair from then until 1945, when it was split for the first time and ''The Adoration of the Golden Calf'' bought by the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

in London for £10,000, half of which was contributed by the Art Fund. (''The Crossing of the Red Sea'' was bought in the same 1945 sale by the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

.) It now hangs in Room 19 of the National Gallery, where it and Poussin's '' The Adoration of the Shepherds'' were vandalised with red spray paint on 17 July 2011. The French-speaking vandal covered up most of the nude figures.

References

External links

National Gallery catalogue entry
1634 paintings Collections of the National Gallery, London Vandalized works of art in the United Kingdom Paintings by Nicolas Poussin Paintings depicting Hebrew Bible themes Book of Exodus Cattle in art Dance in art Golden calf {{17C-painting-stub