Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther
Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther | |
---|---|
Artist | Rembrandt |
Year | 1660 (1660) |
Dimensions | 73 cm × 94 cm (29 in × 37 in) |
Location | Pushkin Museum, Moscow |
The painting Ahasveros and Haman at the Feast of Esther is one of the few works of Rembrandt van Rijn whose complete provenance is known. The origin of the painting can be traced back to 1662, two years after its completion.
There are only three figures in the picture and the banquet is suggested sketchily. Esther lowers her arms apprehensively as she finishes her speech, the king's lips are pursed in anger, and Haman's pose reveals a sense of doom. The distance between the king and his vizier seems enormous, while the king and queen form a united pair.[1]
Subject
The subject is an episode from chapters 5-7 of the Book of Esther in the Old Testament. Haman, councillor to the king Ahasuerus, proposed to hang Mordechai for not paying him respect by standing as he entered the room or by greeting him, and the entire Jewish nation as revenge for their pride. The Jews were saved by the intercession of Mordechai's cousin Esther, who was also Ahasuerus' wife. It is this rescue that is still celebrated in the Jewish festival of Purim.[2] In that festival, Haman is portrayed as the villain, and this is reflected in Rembrandt's depiction of him.
According to the Pushkin Museum this is one of the best creations of Rembrandt's late period.
The dramatic conflict between the three persons is expressed through their restrained but eloquent gestures. The scene has a tense atmosphere of suspense. The figure of Esther is radiant, her robe with a long train is gleaming as if with precious stones. Haman is immersed in the shadows. Rembrandt achieves great depth in rendering the inner life, the spiritual energy of his characters.[3]
Rembrandt
Rembrandt was inspired by the play Hester, by Johannes Serwouters (1623-1677), when painting Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther. The play was first performed in 1659 in the Schouwburg of Van Campen and dedicated to Leonore Huydecoper, the daughter of Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen.[4] Serwouters wrote his play as a reaction to the pogroms in Eastern Europe. Her husband may have ordered the painting, in this way helping Rembrandt being in financial difficulties.
After its completion in 1660, Rembrandt sold the painting Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther to Jan J. Hinlopen.[5] In the year 1662 a poetry book by Jan Vos was published, in which there were a number of poems based on the paintings belonging to Jan J. Hinlopen.[6] Jan Vos describes the painting as following:
- "Here one sees Haman eating with Ahasuerus and Esther.
- "But it is in vain; his breast is full of regret and pain.
- "He eats Esther's food; but deeper into her heart.
- "The king is mad with revenge and rage.
- "The wrath of a monarch..."[7]
Provenance
Part of Jan Hinlopen's collection passed to his two daughters, this painting was one of them. Sara Hinlopen, the longest living of her family, died 89 years old, but without children.[8] Most of her belongings passed to Nicolaes Geelvinck and his three sisters. Unfortunately, her will does not mention any painting, most probably to avoid inheritance taxes.
In 1760 Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther was sold as number 45 at an auction, listed as coming from Nicolaes Geelvinck, and organized after the death of Gerard Hoet, a minor painter but important collector in The Hague.[9]
In 1764 the painting came to Catherine the Great, most probably through the German entrepreneur Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, in financial trouble after the Seven Years' War. After receiving 320 paintings at one time from Gotzkowsky, the Russian Tsarina started the Hermitage.
Probably advised by Gustav Friedrich Waagen the painting went in 1862 to the Museum Rumyantsev in Moscow. Since 1924 Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther can be seen in the Pushkin Museum, also in Moscow.
See also
References
- ^ Tyazehlov, V. N. (2008) The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Room 10, p. 310.
- ^ Webberley, Helen (February 2008). "The Purim Story and the Dutch Artists". Rembrandt and The Purim Story. Jewishmag.com.
- ^ The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Schwartz, G. (2006) Rembrandts Universe, His Art His Life His World, ISBN 0-500-09331-8, p. 112; Schwartz, G. (1987) Rembrandt, zijn leven, zijn schilderijen. Een nieuwe biografie met alle beschikbare schilderijen in kleur afgebeeld, p. 272-6.
- ^ Dudok van Heel, S.A.C. (1969) De Rembrandt's in de verzamelingen Hinlopen. In: Maandblad Amstelodamum, pp. 233-237. (In Dutch.)
- ^ Vos, Jan (1726). Alle de gedichten van Jan Vos. pp. 360–63, 388, 516, 536.
- ^ From: Slive, S. (1953) Rembrandt and his critics, 1630-1730, p. 52.
- ^ One of her in-laws mentioned in his diary she left a considerable amount of money being stingy. In: Het dagboek van J. Bicker Raye, bewerkt door F.M. Bijerinck & M.G. de Boer, (1935), p. 172.
- ^ Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met derzelver prysen, zedert ... 1752. tot ... 1768. ... openbaar verkogt. Dienende tot een vervolg ... op de ... cataloguen door Gerard Hoet ... / Uitgegeeven door Pieter Terwesten, 1770. pp. 220-234.
- v
- t
- e
- The Senses (1624–25)
- The Stoning of Saint Stephen (1625)
- Suffer little children to come unto me (1620s)
- History Painting (1626)
- Balaam and the Ass (1626)
- The Baptism of the Eunuch (1626)
- Bust of a Man Wearing a Gorget and Plumed Beret (1626)
- Tobit and Anna with the Kid (c. 1626)
- The Flight into Egypt (1627)
- The Parable of the Rich Fool (1627)
- The Artist in his Studio (1628)
- Samson and Delilah (1629–30)
- Anna and the Blind Tobit (c. 1630)
- The Raising of Lazarus (c. 1630–1632)
- Andromeda Chained to the Rocks (1631)
- The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1631)
- Christ with a Staff (1631)
- Christ on the Cross (1631)
- Old Man with a Gold Chain (c. 1631)
- Philosopher in Meditation (1632)
- The Abduction of Europa (1632)
- Adoration of the Magi (1632–1633)
- The Shipbuilder and his Wife (1633)
- The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) 2
- A Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633)
- Raising of the Cross (1633)
- Descent from the Cross (1633)
- Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto (1634)
- Flora (1634)
- Artemisia (1634)
- Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit (1634)
- Descent from the Cross (1634)
- Belshazzar's Feast (1635)
- Minerva (1635)
- The Prodigal Son in the Brothel (c. 1635)
- Raising of the Cross (study) (c. 1635)
- The Rape of Ganymede (1635)
- The Entombment of Christ (1635)
- Samson Threatening His Father-In-Law (1635)
- The Standard Bearer (1636)
- Danaë (1636)
- The Blinding of Samson (1636)
- Landscape with Arched Bridge (c. 1636-1637)
- The Preacher Eleazar Swalmius (1637)
- The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family (1637)
- The Stone Bridge (1637)
- The Wedding Feast of Samson (1638)
- Landscape with the Good Samaritan (1638)
- Still Life with Peacocks (c. 1639)
- The Girl in a Picture Frame (1641)
- The Scholar at the Lectern (1641)
- The Night Watch (1642)
- Concord of the State (1642)
- David and Jonathan (1642)
- Boaz and Ruth (1643)
- The Woman Taken in Adultery (1644)
- Joseph's Dream (1645)
- The Holy Family with Angels (1645)
- The Mill (1645–1648)
- Abraham Serving the Three Angels (1646)
- Susanna and the Elders (1647)
- Head of Christ (1648)
- The Kitchen Maid (1651)
- Descent from the Cross (1650–1652)
- Saul and David (c. 1652) 1
- Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (1653)
- A Woman Bathing in a Stream (1654)
- Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654)
- The Polish Rider (1655) 1
- Slaughtered Ox (1655)
- Pallas Athene (c. 1655)
- The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman (1656)
- Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656)
- Courtesan at her Mirror (1657)
- Saint Bartholomew (1657)
- Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659)
- Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther (1660)
- The Denial of Saint Peter (1660)
- Titus as a Monk (1660)
- The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (1661)
- Saint Matthew and the Angel (1661)
- Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (1662)
- Homer Dictating his Verses (1663)
- The Jewish Bride (1664)
- Lucretia (1664) 1
- David and Uriah (c. 1665)
- Young Woman with a Lapdog (1665)
- Lucretia (1666)
- The Return of the Prodigal Son (1662–1669)
- Landscape with a Castle
- Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1631)
- Portrait of a Man (1632)
- Portrait of a Woman (1632)
- Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III (1632)
- Aeltje Pietersdr Uylenburgh (1632)
- Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair (1633)
- Oval Portrait of a Woman (1633)
- Portrait of Marten Soolmans (1634)
- Portrait of Oopjen Coppit (1634)
- Portrait of Petronella Buys (1635)
- A Polish Nobleman (1637)
- Portrait of Maria Trip (1639)
- Portrait of Jan Six (1654)
- Portrait of Catharina Hooghsaet (1657)
- Portrait of a Man (1657)
- Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo (1658)
- Portrait of Dirck van Os (c. 1662)
- Self-Portrait with Dishevelled Hair (1628)
- Rembrandt Laughing (1628)
- Self-Portrait (1629)
- Self-Portrait in a Gorget (c.1629)
- Portrait of a Young Man with a Golden Chain (1635) (disputed)
- Self-Portrait Wearing a White Feathered Bonnet (1635)
- Self-Portrait at the Age of 34 (1640)
- Self-Portrait (1652)
- Self-Portrait in a Black Beret and Gold Chain (1654)
- Self-Portrait (1658)
- Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659)
- Self-Portrait (1660)
- Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul (1662)
- Self-Portrait as Zeuxis Laughing (1662)
- Self-Portrait with Two Circles (1665–1669)
- Self-Portrait (c. 1669)
- Self-Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669)
(including etchings)
- Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (1634)
- Bearded Old Man (1634)
- River with Trees (1634)
- The Artist and his Model (1639)
- The Death of the Virgin (1639)
- The Mill (1641)
- The Three Trees (1643)
- The State Bed (1646)
- Portrait of Jan Six (1647)
- Hundred Guilder Print (1647–1649)
- Conus Marmoreus (1650)
- Goldweigher's Field (1651)
- Doctor Fautrieus (1652)
- Descent from the Cross by Torchlight (1652)
- The Three Crosses (1653)
- The Virgin and Child with a Cat (1654)
- Christ Presented to the People (1655)
- Mughal drawings
Rembrandt
- Bibliography of Rembrandt
- Cultural depictions of Rembrandt
- Rembrandt (1936 film)
- Rembrandt (1940 film)
- Rembrandt (1942 film)
- Rembrandt: A Self-Portrait (1954 documentary film)
- Rembrandt fecit 1669 (1977 film)
- The Anatomy Lesson (1995 novel)
- Rembrandt (1999 film)
- Stealing Rembrandt (2003 film)
- Nightwatching (2007 film )
- Rembrandt's J'Accuse (2008 documentary)
- I Am Rembrandt's Daughter (2008 novel)
- The Rembrandt Affair (2010 novel)
- Rembrandt, Iowa
- Rembrandtplein
- Rembrandtpark
- Rembrandt (crater)
- Rembrandt (train)
- Vereniging Rembrandt (foundation)
- 1 Contested
- 2 Stolen in 1990