Thus it was that when he came down the people were afraid to come
near, for[12] "the skin of his face shone," or "put forth beams," as
the expression reads in some Bible translations. In the old Latin
version made by Jerome in the fifth century, and known as the Vulgate,
translated into what is now called the Douay Bible, we read that
"Moses' face was horned." This is why all the old artists, who were
guided by the Vulgate, represented Moses with horns. These horns
became, as it were, symbols of Moses' inspiration as a prophet.

[Footnote 12: Ibid., chapter xxxiv. verse 30. See Revised Version.]

Michelangelo followed the prevailing custom in using these curious
symbols. The long curling beard gives his hero the aspect of a poet.
The tables of stone show him to be a law-giver. But of all the
qualities of this many-sided man seen in the great statue, the most
conspicuous are his qualities of leadership,--the keen glance, the
commanding air, the alert attitude, the determined look. He seems
ready to spring to his feet if occasion demands. We see also something
of his faults, of the impulsive anger which slew the Egyptian, and
dashed in pieces the tables of stone, and of the arrogance which cost
him the privilege of entering Canaan.

He was not permitted to see his labors carried to completion, but on
the borders of Canaan "went up into the mountain of Nebo,... and died
there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he
buried him in a valley ... over against Beth-peor; but no man knoweth
of his sepulchre unto this day."