Bathsheba at Bath
Encyclopedia
Bathsheba at Bath is a painting by Italian Renaissance
painter Paolo Veronese
, dated around 1575 and kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
, France
.
, enlarged atop and on the left side to match the woodwork. It was sent to Lyon by the State in 1811, and is currently exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
. Its original format was restored in 1991, keeping the extension behind the new guidelines.
when she is seen by King David from the terrace of his palace while she bathes in the evening. But uncertainty about the subject represented. However, although it is generally agreed that the subject of the painting is Bathsheba at her bath, the scene could represent another biblical story, namely Susannah and the Elders, in which a very beautiful woman, who bathes on a hot day and is watched by two old men (who are the characters in the arcades in the background) who unsuccessfully tried to have a sexual intercourse with her and eventually unjustly accused her of adultery.
In this painting, one of his many masterpieces, Veronese vertically divided the space into two separate parts, yet linked by agreements colors and a powerful chiaroscuro
. The old man wears the cloak of gold buttons which is characteristic of the Doges of Venice
. The arms represented on the pitcher may evoke the celebration of a marriage or an alliance between two powerful Venetian families.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
painter Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi...
, dated around 1575 and kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. It is housed near place des Terreaux in a former Benedictine convent of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was restored between 1988 and 1998, and despite these important restoration works it remained open...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
History
This work is a marriage painting by Veronese ordered by a Venetian customer dealing with the theme of adultery linked to that of Justice and shows eroticism between the main two characters. The painting arrived in France in the seventeenth century in the royal collections. It was then kept at the Palace of VersaillesPalace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, enlarged atop and on the left side to match the woodwork. It was sent to Lyon by the State in 1811, and is currently exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. It is housed near place des Terreaux in a former Benedictine convent of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was restored between 1988 and 1998, and despite these important restoration works it remained open...
. Its original format was restored in 1991, keeping the extension behind the new guidelines.
Composition
The painting depicts a biblical scene: BathshebaBathsheba
According to the Hebrew Bible, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. She is most known for the Bible story in which King David seduced her....
when she is seen by King David from the terrace of his palace while she bathes in the evening. But uncertainty about the subject represented. However, although it is generally agreed that the subject of the painting is Bathsheba at her bath, the scene could represent another biblical story, namely Susannah and the Elders, in which a very beautiful woman, who bathes on a hot day and is watched by two old men (who are the characters in the arcades in the background) who unsuccessfully tried to have a sexual intercourse with her and eventually unjustly accused her of adultery.
In this painting, one of his many masterpieces, Veronese vertically divided the space into two separate parts, yet linked by agreements colors and a powerful chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....
. The old man wears the cloak of gold buttons which is characteristic of the Doges of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. The arms represented on the pitcher may evoke the celebration of a marriage or an alliance between two powerful Venetian families.
Analysis
According to art historian Daniel Arasse, as well as to Joséphine Le Foll, two themes are intertwined in this painting:- The theme of Susanna is validated by the presence of the fountain and an old man, but there is only one (if one considers that the elders are the ones in the arcades, while the presence of man in red in the foreground is inexplicable).
- The theme of David and Bathsheba has an old David, and this is unusual especially as generally written in the Bible, David sent a young messenger Bathsheba rather than going to meet her in person. However in other paintings of this subject it is sometimes David himself who comes to see Bathsheba (as in the painting by Jan MatsysJan MatsysJan Matsys was a Flemish painter. He was the son of Quentin Matsys and the father of Quentin Metsys the Younger....
in the Louvre), which would be the case here.