Esther before Ahasuerus

1655/1660

Rembrandt van Rijn

Associated Names
Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

The image features a sketch showing three individuals. One person is seated on the left side, wearing flowing clothing and a turban-like headdress. They hold a scepter in their right hand. Two other individuals are kneeling on the right side, with less defined facial features and wearing loose garments and hats. The background is plain with no discernible scenery or objects.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink with brown wash on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    The Armand Hammer Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 17.3 x 17.2 cm (6 13/16 x 6 3/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1991.217.8

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Benesch 1973, undescribed

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

B.F. Nicholson (sold, Sotheby's, London, March 23, 1971, no. 90); to Armand Hammer Collection, 1971; gift to NGA, 1991.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1971

  • Exhibited with the Armand Hammer collection from 1971, beginning with Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahama City; except Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, 1971, and Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, 1976.

1974

  • Recent Acquisitions and Promised Gifts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1974, no. 69.

1976

  • Old Master Drawings from American Collections, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1976, (not in catalogue -- added late?).

2006

  • Strokes of Genius: Rembrandt's Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

1972

  • Christopher White, "The Hammer Collection: Drawings," Apollo, vol. 95 (June, 1972), pp.458-60, fig. 5.

1973

  • Benesch, Otto. The Drawings of Rembrandt. 6 vols. London: Phaidon, 1973. (enlarged and edited by Eva Benesch from 1954-1957 ed.): undesc

Watermarks

Arms of Amsterdam

Wikidata ID

Q64620318

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