In the 1760s, François Boucher made a number of ink and wash drawings with strong contrasts of light and dark. His inspiration in part was the work of Rembrandt. Boucher had long been familiar with seventeenth-century Dutch art, but had especially come under its spell following his visit to the Netherlands in 1763 or 1764. Here Boucher has used the passages of brown wash to heighten the dramatic moment when the awestruck Moses receives the tablets with the Ten Commandments from God the Father amidst a host of angels. Although drawings such as this were eagerly collected by admirers of Boucher’s work, we know that Moses Receiving the Tablets of the Law remained with the artist until his death for it was listed in his posthumous sale.