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Aert de Gelder

Esther and Mordecai, ca. 1685

Now On View

Description

Maker

Title

Esther and Mordecai

Year

ca. 1685

Medium

Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

59.7 x 143.5 cm (23 1/2 x 56 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Unsigned

Type

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

17.138

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

European Galleries

In a darkly lit room, Esther and Mordecai compose the second letter of Purim, decreeing a day celebrating Jewish deliverance. Mordecai had brokered Esther’s marriage to the Persian king Ahasuerus, who was unaware that she was a Jew. When the king’s advisor coerced Ahasuerus to announce the execution of all the Jews in the kingdom, Esther revealed her ancestry and saved her people.

Influenced by Rembrandt’s painterly technique and atmospheric play of lights and darks, de Gelder used broad, thickly layered strokes to emphasize the age and humanity of the figures.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Esther and Mordecai with the accession number of 17.138. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.