According to the Bible and the Quran, the golden calf was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf". It is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus.
The Adoration of the Golden Calf – picture from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)
Moses destroying the tablets (watercolor c. 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
Worshiping the Golden Calf
The Levites killed about 3,000 Israelites who worshipped the Golden Calf (1984 illustration by Jim Padgett).
Moses was a Hebrew teacher and leader considered the most important prophet in Judaism and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and other Abrahamic religions. According to both the Bible and the Quran, Moses was the leader of the Israelites and lawgiver to whom the prophetic authorship of the Torah is attributed.
Moses with the Tablets of the Law (1624), by Guido Reni
Moses striking the rock, 1630 by Pieter de Grebber
The Finding of Moses, painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1904
Moses before the Pharaoh, a 6th-century miniature from the Syriac Bible of Paris