Esther Before Ahasuerus (Artemisia Gentileschi)
Artemisia Gentileschi · c. 1629
The story
Esther Before Ahasuerus is a painting by the 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It shows the biblical heroine Esther going before Ahasuerus to beg him to spare her people. The painting is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, having been donated to the museum by Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll in 1969. It is one of Gentileschi's lesser known works, but her use of lighting, characterization, and style help in successfully portraying Esther as a biblical heroine as well as the main protagonist of the work.
The painting is not specifically dated and the patron or the commissioner of the painting is still unknown. Scholars of Baroque art and Artemisia Gentileschi hold various opinions over when the painting was created; many believe that Esther Before Ahasuerus was painted during the 1630s, during Artemisia's first Neapolitan period.
- Artist
- Artemisia Gentileschi
- Date
- c. 1629
- Collection
- The Met, New York, United States
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Size
- 208.3 × 273.7 cm
Story adapted from the Wikipedia article and its contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Explore paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi
Explore related paintings
- Judith and Her Maidservant (Artemisia Gentileschi, Florence) by Artemisia Gentileschi
- Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi
- Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi, Florence) by Artemisia Gentileschi
- Mary Magdalene (Artemisia Gentileschi) by Artemisia Gentileschi
- A Goldsmith in His Shop by Petrus Christus
- Adoration of the Shepherds (Mantegna) by Andrea Mantegna
Guess famous paintings in the free daily art puzzle →
Enable JavaScript to play the interactive puzzle. Your progress stays on this device.