Life of Esther

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Ahasuerus Chooses Esther, 47 x 131 cm, Musee Conde, Chantilly Filippino Lippi - Esther choisie par Assuerus - Google Art Project.jpg
Ahasuerus Chooses Esther, 47 × 131 cm, Musée Condé, Chantilly
The three scenes in the Louvre, Mordecai Lamenting ; Esther Faints Before Ahasuerus ; Haman Begs For Mercy In Vain, and Haman is hung in the background. Botticelli 03 Louvre.jpg
The three scenes in the Louvre, Mordecai Lamenting ; Esther Faints Before Ahasuerus ; Haman Begs For Mercy In Vain, and Haman is hung in the background.

Life of Esther or Scenes from the Story of Esther is the title of a series of six panel paintings by Sandro Botticelli and Filippino Lippi, showing scenes from the story of Esther and produced in the 1470s. They originally decorated the sides of a pair of cassoni or marriage chests, the two long panels on the fronts, and the smaller ones on the ends. They are now split between five museums in Europe and Canada. [1]

Contents

The Triumph of Mordecai, National Gallery of Canada Botticelli - The Triumph of Mordecai.jpeg
The Triumph of Mordecai, National Gallery of Canada

The authorship of the panels has been much discussed, without firm conclusions being reached. Many accounts divide the works between the two artists, either in terms of the different paintings, or different stages of the work, or both. After his father's death in 1469, Filippino Lippi completed his apprenticeship with Botticelli, and in 1472 was recorded as his assistant. Whether the panel known as La Derelitta, probably by Botticelli, and perhaps rather later than the others, forms part of the series, has also puzzled scholars. The figure is often thought to be female, and a scene of Mordecai weeping is already shown in the Louvre's wide panel. [2]

A recent (2010) study, based on infrared reflectography and x-ray images, shows differences between the style and techniques of the underdrawing, and also differences in the handling of the vanishing points in the perspective of the architecture. There may well have been more than two artists involved. [3] The author concludes that La Derelitta and The Triumph of Mordecai are entirely by Botticelli, and Esther at the Palace Gate perhaps entirely by Lippi. The two wide front panels suggest a design by Botticelli, and some underdrawing, but are probably mostly by Lippi, assisted by another painter in the draperies. Vashti Rejected may be painted by a third, less expert, painter after a cartoon by Botticelli. [4]

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The division between the two cassoni is conjectural, based on the order of events in the biblical story, with the first one mostly covering Esther's part in the story, and the second that of Mordecai. Cassoni were typical wedding gifts, and this partial division into a female and male story would be appropriate for this. Theologians saw the relationship between Esther and Ashuerus as a prefiguration of that between Christ and his church. [5]

First cassone

Second cassone

Provenance

The original patron and context of the paintings is unknown. The La Derelitta, possibly Mordecai Weeping is first recorded in 1816 in the collection of Prince Giuseppe Rospigliosi (as a work by Masaccio). The other panels were recorded in the 1850s in the Torrigiani collection, and published by Jacob Burckhardt, who attributed them to Lippi, using the designs, and perhaps the underdrawing, of Botticelli. [5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Wind, writing when some of the owners were different.
  2. ↑ Wind; Marcevicius, 31–32.
  3. ↑ Marcevicius, 32–34.
  4. ↑ Marcevicius, 33–35.
  5. 1 2 Marcevicius, 31–32.
  6. ↑ Google Cultural Institute

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Esther and the King is a 1960 American-Italian religious epic film produced and directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Joan Collins as Esther, Richard Egan as Ahasuerus, and Denis O'Dea as Mordecai. Walsh and Michael Elkins wrote the screenplay, which was based on the Book of Esther of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. It recounts the origin of the Jewish celebration of Purim.

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The Esther and Ahasuerus Coffer is a group of five c.1490 tempera on panel paintings of scenes by Jacopo del Sellaio, whose studio specialised in the production of such coffers and cassoni. Influenced by Bartolomeo di Giovanni, another painter of cassoni and coffers, three panels are now in the Uffizi in Florence. Two other panels are in the collection of the Louvre and the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

References

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