''Queen Esther'' is an 1878 painting by Edwin Long. The painter drew upon travelogue illustrations in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in order to produce this vision of the biblical Queen Esther in Ahasuerus' palace at

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

. The painting was first displayed in 1878 at the Royal Academy, and is now a part of the collection Pérez Simón. The painting was meant to be hung next to a similar painting depicting

Vashti Vashti ( he, , translit=Vaštī; ; ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She was either e ...

. It was housed in the Museum and Gallery at Bob Jones University for a time and is currently housed at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

References

{{Authority control 19th-century paintings 1878 paintings Paintings of Esther Paintings by Edwin Long