Bathsheba at her Bath (Ricci)

Last updated
Bathsheba at her Bath
Sebastiano Ricci - Bathsheba at the Bath - WGA19430.jpg
Artist Sebastiano Ricci
Yearc.1720
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions118.5 cm× 199 cm(46.7 in× 78 in)
Location Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Bathsheba at her Bath is an oil on canvas painting executed c.1720 by the Venetian artist Sebastiano Ricci which is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. A common subject amongst artists, this was the first of two of Ricci's depictions of the theme.

The painting depicts the Biblical story (as narrated in 2 Samuel 11) of the seduction of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, by the Israelite king, David. In the painting Bathsheba, attended by four maidservants, is taking a ritual bath in the open air whilst being observed by King David from his nearby palace roof. In common with other artists Ricci portrays Bathsheba as somewhat vain and promiscuous, thereby excusing David's subsequent immoral behaviour, which was to send her a letter inviting her to his quarters and making her pregnant. [1]

Bathsheba, Sebastiano Ricci, 1725, Gemaldegalerie, Berlin Sebastiano Ricci - Bathsheba - WGA19431.jpg
Bathsheba, Sebastiano Ricci, 1725, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

As in the other Ricci work, the background is composed of columns and balconies and the painting uniformly illuminated with light with very little shade. Bathsheba's vanity is exemplified by the way she is looking into a mirror and David's kingship by the fact that he is wearing a crown.

In Ricci's later reworking of the subject, the image of David is replaced by one of his messenger.

See also

Related Research Articles

Iconclass is a specialized library classification designed for art and iconography. It was originally conceived by Henri van de Waal, and was further developed by a group of scholars after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathsheba</span> Biblical figure and wife of David

Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, according to the Hebrew Bible. She was the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as king, making her the Gebirah. She is best known for the Biblical narrative in which she was summoned by King David, who had seen her bathing and lusted after her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uriah the Hittite</span> Character in the Hebrew Bible

Uriah the Hittite is a minor figure in the Hebrew Bible, mentioned in the Books of Samuel, an elite soldier in the army of David, king of Israel and Judah, and the husband of Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam. While Uriah was serving in David's army abroad, David, from the roof of his palace, looked down on his city and spied upon Bathsheba bathing in the privacy of her courtyard. Moved by lust at the sight of her, David called for Bathsheba to be brought to him and slept with her, impregnating her. In an effort to hide his misdeeds, David called Uriah home from war, hoping that he and Bathsheba would have sex and that he would be able to pass the child off as belonging to Uriah. However, Uriah, being a disciplined soldier, refused to visit his wife. So David murdered him by proxy by ordering all of Uriah's comrades to abandon him in the midst of battle, so that he ended up getting killed by an opposing army. Following Uriah's death, David took Bathsheba as his eighth wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artemisia Gentileschi</span> Italian painter (1593 – c. 1656)

Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem van Mieris</span> Dutch painter

Willem van Mieris was an 18th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco Hayez</span> Italian painter (1791–1882)

Francesco Hayez was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and portraits.

<i>Oath of the Horatii</i> 1784 painting by Jacques-Louis David

Oath of the Horatii is a large painting by the French artist Jacques-Louis David painted in 1784 and 1785 and now on display in the Louvre in Paris. The painting immediately became a huge success with critics and the public and remains one of the best-known paintings in the Neoclassical style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastiano Ricci</span> Italian painter (1659–1734)

Sebastiano Ricci was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Cortonesque style of grand manner fresco painting.

<i>Bacchus and Ariadne</i> Painting by Titian

Bacchus and Ariadne (1522–1523) is an oil painting by Titian. It is one of a cycle of paintings on mythological subjects produced for Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, for the Camerino d'Alabastro – a private room in his palazzo in Ferrara decorated with paintings based on classical texts. An advance payment was given to Raphael, who originally held the commission for the subject of a Triumph of Bacchus.

<i>David and Bathsheba</i> (film) 1951 film by Henry King

David and Bathsheba is a 1951 Technicolor epic film produced by 20th Century-Fox and starring Gregory Peck as King David. It was directed by Henry King and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, with a screenplay by Philip Dunne and cinematography by Leon Shamroy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1724 in art</span> Overview of the events of 1724 in art

Events from the year 1724 in art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nativity of Jesus in art</span> Artistic depictions of the Nativity or birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas

The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century.

<i>Bathsheba at Her Bath</i> (Rembrandt) Oil painting by Rembrandt

Bathsheba at Her Bath is an oil painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt (1606–1669), finished in 1654.

<i>Bathsheba at her Bath</i> (Veronese) Painting by Paolo Veronese

Bathsheba at her Bath is an oil-on-canvas painting by Italian Renaissance painter Paolo Veronese, dated around 1575 and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France.

<i>The Toilette of Esther</i> Painting by Théodore Chassériau

The Toilette of Esther or Esther Preparing to be Presented to King Ahasuerus, is an 1841 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Théodore Chassériau. The painting depicts a moment from the scriptural Book of Esther, when Esther prepared to meet King Ahasuerus, ruler of Persia, who subsequently took her as his wife. The painting is in the Musée du Louvre. Vincent Pomarède of the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon has described it as "one of the most famous (paintings) in the Louvre".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas Gassel</span> 16th century Flemish Renaissance painter

Lucas Gassel or Lucas van Gassel was a Flemish Renaissance painter and draughtsman known for his landscapes. He helped further develop and modernize the landscape tradition in Flanders. He also designed prints which were published by the Antwerp publisher Hieronymus Cock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power of Women</span> Medieval artistic and literary topos

The "Power of Women" is a medieval and Renaissance artistic and literary topos, showing "heroic or wise men dominated by women", presenting "an admonitory and often humorous inversion of the male-dominated sexual hierarchy". It was defined by Susan L. Smith as "the representational practice of bringing together at least two, but usually more, well-known figures from the Bible, ancient history, or romance to exemplify a cluster of interrelated themes that include the wiles of women, the power of love, and the trials of marriage". Smith argues that the topos is not simply a "straightforward manifestation of medieval antifeminism"; rather, it is "a site of contest through which conflicting ideas about gender roles could be expressed".

<i>Bathsheba</i> (Memling) Painting by Hans Memling

Bathsheba are names given to a c 1480 oil on wood panel painting by the Early Netherlandish artist Hans Memling, now in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart. Its unusually close framing and the fact that many of the details are cut off suggests that it is a fragment of a larger, probably religious, panel or triptych that was broken up. The painting is noted for being a rare 15th century depiction of a nude person in Northern Renaissance art; such figures typically only appeared in representations of the Last Judgement, and were hardly as deliberately erotic. Memling is attributed one other secular nude portrait, in the center panel of his c. 1485 Vanitas allegory Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg. As opposed to Bathsheba, that nude is fully exposed, with visible genitalia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Sacchetti</span> Palace in Rome, Italy

Palazzo Sacchetti is a palazzo in Rome, important for historical and artistic reasons.

<i>Bathsheba</i> (Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Bathsheba is a 1636-37 painting by the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, with contributions by Viviano Codazzi and Domenico Gargiulo. It shows the Hittite woman Bathsheba being washed and tended to by her servants. At the top left of the painting, King David sees her from his palace. It was one of seven versions from the story of Bathsheba that Gentileschi painted.

References

  1. "Bathsheba at her Bath". Web Gallery of Art. Retrieved 27 June 2020.