Made by Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain / Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus / 1658

Made by Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain
Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus
1658
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Creator Name: Lorrain, Claude
Creator Nationality: European; French
Creator Role: Artist
Creator Dates/Places: French, ca. 1604/5-1682
Creator Name-CRT: Made by Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain
Title: Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 1658
Creation End Date: 1658
Creation Date: 1658
Object Type: Drawings and Watercolors
Materials and Techniques: Pen and brown ink; brown wash over black chalk; heightened with white
Dimensions: 11 13/16 x 17 1/2 in. (30 x 44.4 cm)
AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 1997.156
Credit Line: Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 1997
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/
Context:

This magnificent compositional study, which came to light in the late 1980s, stands out in Claude's graphic oeuvre for its high degree of finish and detail. The biblical subject is set in an invented landscape animated by a diffuse naturalistic light. It was presumably made as a presentation drawing for François Bosquet, bishop of Montpellier, who had commissioned from the artist a pendant to his 'Sermon on the Mount' (Frick Collection, New York). The resulting painting, considered by Claude to be his most beautiful, was later largely destroyed by fire (a fragment survives at Holkham Hall, England).

Claude here depicts the Old Testament story of Queen Esther, who went to the king's palace to implore his mercy for her condemned people. As uninvited appearances before the king were forbidden under penalty of death, Esther collapsed in fear as she neared his throne, a scene commonly depicted by Baroque artists. By choosing instead the moment of Esther's approach to the palace, which is not described in the biblical text, Claude has shifted the focus from the clemency of the king to Esther's act of bravery when its outcome was still unclear.

AMICA ID: MMA_.1997.156
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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