Jan Matsys: Bathsheba Observed by King David

PD Photo: Bathsheba Observed by King David, 16th century oil on panel painting by Flemish painter Jan Matsys, dimensions 110 cm x 76 cm current location in private collection.

Bathsheba with David’s letter

‘Bathsheba with David’s letter’ (1654), oil on canvas painting by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), 142 cm x 142 cm (55.91” x 55.91”), located at Louvre, Paris. In 1869 the painting was bequeathed to the Louvre by Dr. Louis La Caze.

Bronze sculpture of David at Fawick Park

Photo shot by Jerry Fisher at Fawick Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States on 22 May, 2005. This full-sized bronze reproduction of Michelangelo’s sculpture, David, was a gift from the inventor Thomas Fawick to the city of Sioux Falls.

The Replica of David in Buffalo, New York

Photo: The Replica of David in Buffalo, New York

In 1903, a replica of Michelangelo’s David made of bronze standing on granite base, was presented to the city of Buffalo, United States, and the Buffalo Historical Society by Andrew Langdon, a Buffalo businessman and scholar. Langdon had seen the statue of David as an exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 1900, and negotiated with the firm of bronze founders who had cast it (Angelus & Sons) and bought it. He also exacted an agreement with the bronze founders that they would not send another replica of David to the United States. The statue now stands in Delaware Park.

David by Michelangelo

The statue of David, a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created from 1501 to 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo, stands 5.17 meter (17 feet) tall. The marble statue portrays the Biblical hero David. The statue is said to symbolize the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic, the independent city-state threatened on all sides by powerful enemies and by the hegemony of the Medici family. This interpretation was encouraged by the original setting of the sculpture outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence. The statue was moved from Piazza della Signoria in 1873 to the Accademia Gallery in Florence where it attracts many visitors now. In 1910 a replica of David was placed in the Piazza della Signoria, where David was originally installed.

Painting: Bathsheba by Willem Drost

This is a photo of the 1654 oil on canvas painting (dimension 103 cm x 87 cm) of Bathsheba, wife of David and mother of Solomon, by Willem Drost, currently located at Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Drost (1633-1659) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker of history paintings and portraits.

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.

Bathsheba Bathing by Francesco Hayez

Painting: Bathsheba Bathing (Bathseba im Bade/ Betsabea al bagno) by Francesco Hayez (1834), an 1834 oil painting on canvas, 77 cm x 107 cm, is currently located in a private collection in Lugano.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Bathsheba (Bat Sheva, daughter of the oath) was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, King of Israel and Judah. She was the daughter of Eliam, one of King David's Thirty Warriors. Eliam was also the son of Ahitophel, one of David's chief advisors. Ahitophel was from Giloh, a city of Judah, and thus Bathsheba was from David's own tribe and the granddaughter of one of David's closest advisors. She was the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as king.