Nicolas Poussin’s The Adoration of the Golden Calf is one painting in a pair of Moses stories, along with The Crossing of the Red Sea.

Based on the book of Exodus, this painting shows the Israelites dancing wildly just after Moses leaves town, acting like kids left home alone with a cake in the fridge. Which is to say, things spiral quickly. Their de facto leader, Aaron, takes over and he’s the equivalent of a pothead babysitter who wants nothing more than to get paid to eat candy and watch television until the parents get home. But Aaron’s not just lazy, he’s somewhat smart, too. With Moses gone, he convinces everybody to fork over their golden earrings. He then proceeds to melt the earrings down and construct a giant, golden cow for the people to worship. Meanwhile, in the background of the painting, we see Moses returning in a state beyond anger. After his relaxing retreat to the mountains, during which he received the ten commandments directly from God, he comes back to find his people naked, dancing, and worshipping before a golden statue of a heifer. Moses has a cow (pun intended) and smashes the tablets on the ground.

While this painting is, in many ways, a classic Poussin religious painting, I think it’s time to get into the conspiracy theories. Due to a sloppy sign-off on this painting, a trivial argument broke out among historians. Was the piece painted in 1626 or 1629? While this face was never decided, it did spark another, far more interesting theory. Other art historians began to notice a few flaws. The painting looked sloppy, some even said, and uncharacteristic of Poussin's work. The date wasn’t the only slapdash thing on this painting, and this led art historians to believe that it wasn't  done by Poussin at all. Some art historians even became so convinced that they exclude the painting entirely from his oeuvre.

And lastly, a bit of needless vandalism. In 2011, someone walked directly up to this painting and spray painted the entire bottom portion in red. Witnesses say that when he was done spraying, he stood there and admired his work until he was arrested.