Pocket Guide -> Media -> Oil on canvas -> Bathsheba
Bathsheba
by Artemisia Gentileschi · Italian, 1593 - 1652
| Creation Date: | circa 1636 |
| Media & Support: | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions: | 104 ½ x 82 ½ inches |
| Credit: | Museum Purchase, Schumacher Fund |
The Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi was a highly successful and influential artist at a time when women painters were rare. For this major commission, she painted the principal figures, and, as was the common practice, she employed two specialists to paint the architectural and landscape features. King David of the Old Testament, on the balcony, is going to seduce Bathsheba, his commander's wife. Gentileschi has emphasized Bathsheba's dignity and noble bearing and has relied on strong light and vivid but somber colors to emphasize the silent drama of the scene.
