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Grubrich-Simitis has created a collage in which she examines Freud's relationship to the statue of Moses, part of the monumental tomb of Pope Julius II by Michelangelo. The collage, as she calls it, consists of bringing together her intimate knowledge of Freud's entire life and work, including the following: his struggles at the time of publication of this study in 19141; the history of psychoanalysis and the history of the publication itself; the fate of the statue in relationship to the whole of which it forms a part—the papal tomb; Michelangelo, its creator; the pope who commissioned the statue; the man Moses; and the artistic conventions identified by art historians that played a part in its original meaning. Together, these separate parts, made more vivid by illustrations, constitute a fascinating whole, assembled by the author with an eye toward mystery.
In fact, the story begins with a mystery: Freud—atypically, according to the author—started his 1914 essay with the word “I,” but published it anonymously. He referred to it as “daring” (Wag-stück), raising a question about the conflicts that motivated such a contradictory approach. He had seen the statue that was its subject for the first time in 1901, at the time of the breakup of his friendship with Fliess, and the essay was published after his breakup with