The Triumph of Mordecai
In 1736 de Troy undertook seven enormous preparatory designs for tapestries representing the Old Testament story of Esther that were woven at the Gobelins tapestry manufactory. A significant amount of history painters’ commissions came from tapestries, which were considered of suitable scale and prestige for such subjects. This preliminary oil sketch for one of de Troy’s Esther series depicts her kinsman and adoptive father, Mordecai, riding triumphantly through the streets of Susa (present-day Iran). The costumes were doubly imaginary, as de Troy interpreted and exoticized both historical and Middle Eastern dress. Having worked out the figures’ relationships at this reduced size, he later painted a full-scale model (1738–39; Musée du Louvre, Paris) before the first tapestries were woven between 1741 and 1744.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Triumph of Mordecai
- Artist: Jean François de Troy (French, Paris 1679–1752 Rome)
- Date: ca. 1736
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 33 5/8 x 59 1/4 in. (86 x 150.2 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1906
- Object Number: 07.225.285
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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