GOES, Hugo van der
(b. ca. 1440, Ghent, d. 1482, Bruxelles)

Calvary Triptych (right wing)

1465-68
Oil on wood
Cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

The right wing depicts the episode of the brazen serpent. The people of Israel are marching through a steep-sided valley. Moses has climbed up onto a rocky promontory above them, his stick in one hand. There he complains to Jehovah that the people will not obey him any more, whereupon Jehovah turns his stick into a snake before the eyes of the astonished crowd.