Esther before the King

Esther before the King by the ItalianBaroque painter Andrea Celesti (1637-1712).

Exotic Setting

Vashti Deposed (1890) by the British painter Ernest Normand (1859-1923). Normand was kind of a specialist in mythological and historical nudes.

Beautiful Esther

Joan Collins as Esther in the Film Esther and the King (1960). It's sex and crime what's selling now from the old Bible stories.

Action Movie

This poster for the movie "Esther and the King" (1960) shows how Hollywood liked to interpret those stories. There is a lot of action violating and plundering soldiers, harem scenes and so on.
But the best is Joan Collins as Esther with her absolutely modern hairstyle and cleavage dress.

Queen of the Orient

Queen Esther (1878) by the English painter Edwin Longsden Long (1829-1891).

Long was an specialized in historical, biblical and oriental subjects. So it isn’t surprising that he spent great efforts on the historical details like costumes, architecture and furniture. Because of that the result is more a history painting than a biblical one.

Blond Esther

This Esther is an illustration of a popular bible. I don’t know the artist but it’s in the typical Art Deco style of the 1930’s. Despite pretending to depict Esther the girl looks much more than a blonde Wagnerian Valkyrie.

Hollywood Esther

This movie poster for "Esther and the King" (1960) starring Joan Collins as Esther underlines the modern artistic interest and exploitation of the bible women.

Fainting Queen Esther

Queen Esther before. King Ahasuerus (c. 1815) by the Slovenian painter Francesco Caucig (1755-1828).

Although Caucig is a lesser known artist his painting is a good example of the neoclassical style which dominated art at from the end of the 18th century. Interesting is also that Caucig didn’t use an entire classical scenery but rather something more oriental, that’s probably a result of the influence of historical studies.

Esther before the King

Esther before Ahasuerus (1738-40) by the Italian painter Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (1708-1787).

It’s a typical classicist painting. The scenery is well known – Esther is losing consciousness before the great King. The architecture and the dresses are taken from the time of the painting.

Festival of Esther

The Festival of Esther (1865) by the English Victorian era painter Edward Armitage (1817-1896).

Armitage focused on historical, classical and biblical subjects. That explains the good historical decoration of the painting. It’s that kind of "realism" which dominated painting till the end of the century.

The Banquet of Esther

The Banquet of Esther (1640s) by the Dutch baroque painter Jan Victors (1620-?), who was probably a student of Rembrandt van Rijn.

Here Esther reveals to the king that she herself is a Jew and that Haman has plotted to kill them all. She will loose her live if she couldn’t convince the king.
All are wearing typical Dutch costumes of the 17th century. Only the turban, which is from the same period, reminds that the scenery happened somewhere in the Orient. There is still nothing "historical" in the painting.

Theatrical Esther

Esther before the king from the Bible illustrated by Paul Gustave Doré (1832–1883).

For Doré it was important be historical as exact as possible. So he drew a kind of exotic palace and costumes which could pass as Persian. But if you look at how theatrically Esther is losing her consciousness, it could only be on a stage. So it’s theatre in a good setting what Doré is showing.

Esther at the crossroads

This Esther is by the English painter Sir John Everett Millais (1829–1896) one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Esther is standing at the crossroads. To enter her husband’s hall without being called meant death, regardless the rank of the person. But Esther had decided to intervene and to risk her live to help her people.
Millais a great specialist in showy clothes painted a queen with all her splendor, probably to show what she had to loose.

Esther by Chassériau

This interpretation of Esther is by the French painter Théodore Chassériau (1819-1856).
He was a student of Ingres and therefore its in a typical classical linear style, nearly two-dimensional. But also there is a romantic influence with its strong colours and the orientalistic touch.

Toilet of Esther (1841)

Esther the Queen

King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) held a big feast in his capital Susa. But when he wanted his queen, Vashti, to appear and show her beauty, she refused to do so. Because of that she was banished and the king looked for a new women. After a long selection he chose Esther because of her great beauty. Esther was a Jew but didn't tell this the king. Later Haman a powerful prince plotted against the Jews in the Empire and tried to convince the king to kill them all. At last Esther suceeded in convincing the king of the plot and to save the live of all the Jews in Persia.

As a result of Esther's intervention and her influence, the Jews lived in Persia untill our time.

Esther (1844) by the French painter Francois Leon Benouville (1821-1859) .

The painting is typically classical renouncing perspective. But its as well an orientalistic painting. Esther is presented as one of the fancied odaliques with her black slave.