Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus
Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée) French
Not on view
This study stands out in Claude's graphic oeuvre for its high degree of finish and detail. It presumably was made as a presentation drawing for François Bosquet, bishop of Montpellier, who had commissioned a pendant to his Sermon on the Mount (Frick Collection, New York). Only a fragment of the painting, which the artist considered his most beautiful, survives (Holkham Hall, England). The composition depicts the Old Testament Queen Esther on her way to King Ahasuerus'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 moment commonly depicted by Baroque artists. Claude chose instead to represent Esther's approach to the palace, which is not described in the biblical text but allowed him to set the scene in an invented landscape against a monumental architectural backdrop, animated by diffuse naturalistic light.
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