Bathsheba
ArtistJean-Léon Gérôme
Year1889 (1889)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions60.5 cm × 100 cm (23.8 in × 39 in)
LocationPrivate collection
Bathsheba and her maidservant (detail)

Bathsheba (French: Bethsabée) is an oil painting on canvas by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, made at Bougival in 1889. The work is now kept in a private collection.

History

And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

— 2 Samuel 11:2 KJV

Gérôme worked much at Bougival, on the roof of his summer atelier, which was arranged so that the trees and shrubbery inclosed and sheltered it from curious eyes, enabling him to pose his model in the open air and obtain different atmospheric effects. A picture painted there in the summer of 1889 is called Bathsheba, and represents the beautiful wife of Uriah the Hittite, bathing on the terrace-roof of her house.[1]

Analysis

According to Fanny Field Hering, "This figure is a marvel of plastic grace and delicate flesh-tints, and the effects of light are equally amazing."[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hering 1892, p. 274.

Sources

Study in black pencil, 232 x 359 mm (9.1 x 14.1 in), in a private collection
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