Painting: Bathsheba by Karl Briullov

Painting: Bathsheba by Karl Briullov (1799-1852), the Russian painter regarded as a key figure in transition from the Russian neoclassicism to romanticism.

Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and afterward of David, by whom she gave birth to Solomon, who succeeded David as king. The references say David, while walking on the roof of his house, saw Bathsheba, who was then the wife of Uriah, taking a bath, desired her and later made her pregnant.

To conceal his sin, David summoned Uriah from the army with the hope that Uriah would re-consummate his marriage and think that the child is his. But Uriah was unwilling to violate the kingdom’s rule applying to warriors in active service and preferred to remain with the palace troops without meeting his wife Bathsheba.

After repeated efforts to convince Uriah to fertilize Bathsheba, the king David gave the order to his general, Joab, that Uriah should be abandoned during a heated battle and left to the hands of the enemy. Ironically, David had Uriah himself carry the message that ordered his death. After Uriah was dead, David made the now widowed Bathsheba his wife.