High Altar

The documented friendship between Meyring and the painter Carl Loth may account for certain affinities between some of Meyring's sculpture and the work of the Tenebrist painters; knowledge of the figurative world of the painter seems to have fired Meyring's imagination. This can be seen, for example, in the sculptural ensemble of the high altar in the church of San Moisè. The composition, centred on the mountain, is divided into stage scenes. The statues are grouped from the summit down its slopes to the bottom in order to suggest a narrative flow that articulates the biblical story. The Eternal Father, surrounded by angels, hands over to Moses the tablets of the law on Mount Sinai, while in Moses's absence, following the instructions of Aaron, three figures prepare the jewelry that will be used for the golden calf. The story is concluded in the relief on the altar frontal with the episode of the Jews who after raising the golden calf onto the altar give themselves over to joyous abandon. The Eternal Father seems to refer back to Loth's altarpiece in San Silvestro.