''Bathsheba'' is a 1636-37 painting by the Baroque painter
Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi (, ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing profess ...
, with contributions by
Viviano Codazzi (who painted the architecture at the top left of the painting) and
Domenico Gargiulo (who painted the landscape).
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.
The painting is now in the collection of the
Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio.
Subject
The subject, traditionally called ''
Bathsheba at her Bath'', is drawn from the
Second Book of Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books ( J ...
, in , which recounts that while Bathsheba was being washed, she was seen by King David from his palace balcony. David was instantaneously smitten with Bathsheba - he invited her to his palace chambers and proceeded to seduce and impregnate her. At the time, Bathsheba was married to a soldier in David's army. He was killed shortly after the event - David then married Bathsheba and their son was born.
The painting depicts the precise moment that David spots Bathsheba (David is the tiny figure at the top left of the picture). However, the focus of the painting is entirely on the calm Bathsheba as she attended on by her servants.
Interpretation
There is general agreement that this painting is in Gentileschi's latter style, when she was living in
Naples and more influenced by the
Bolognese
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nati ...
classicist school than by the
Caravaggist paintings of her earlier career.
An eighteenth-century biographer went as far to make an explicit link of the style to that of the Bolognese painter
Guido Reni
Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...
.
Some art historians have been positive about the painting - Keith Christiansen says it "demonstrates the sophisticated construction of one of Artemisia's most accomplished works".
Letizia Treves writes that "Artemisia successfully met the challenge of composing a large scene with multiple in figures in different planes, producing one of the most accomplished works of her maturity."
However, Jesse Locker (who dates the painting to the 1640s rather than 1630s) says that the Bathsheba is one of her latter paintings "that to modern eyes appear anodyne, excessively finished."
Condition of painting
The painting has been restored two times, in 1979 and again in 1996, repairing three tears in the canvas.
The quality of the paintwork still reflects the passage of time, however. The colours of some of the figures are flattened and there is much abrasion in the landscape parts of the image.
Provenance
The first recorded owner of the painting was Luigi Rome, Baron of San Luigi, Naples in the 1740s,
who also owned a painting of Susannah by Gentileschi.
After passing through a series of Roman antique dealers, the painting was purchased by
Colnaghi in 1962.
The current owners acquired the work from Colnaghi in February 1967.
See also
*
List of works by Artemisia Gentileschi
References
17th-century paintings
Paintings depicting Bathsheba
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