Bathsheba with King David’s Letter by Rembrandt van Rijn was created in 1654. The painting is in Musee du Louvre Paris. The size of the work 142 x 142 cm and is made of oil on canvas.
Subject taken from the Bible (II Book of Samuel, XI, 4): David – paradoxically absent from this painting – sees from his palace Bathsheba, the wife of his general Uriah, bathing and asks for her by a messenger, from where the importance of the letter delivered to Bathsheba, the strong point of a whole iconographic renewal of the theme, dear to the Nordics of the 17th century. (Rubens, Lievens, Bronckhorst, Drost, see R.F. 1349, cf. Sluijter, p. 340-352). The interpretation of Jean Cailleux (1945 then 1969), Bathsabée receiving a letter announcing the death of Urie to him sent expressly to the war by David, and regretting having cheated on her husband with David, seems adventurous (no second message in the Bible; iconographic tradition of the bath of Bathsheba). Read more in Musee du Louvre (fr).
About the Artist: Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman Rembrandt was born on 15 July 1606 in Leiden, in the Dutch Republic, now the Netherlands. As a boy, he attended a Latin school. At the age of 13, he was enrolled at the University of Leiden, although according to a contemporary he had a greater inclination towards painting. In 1624 or 1625, Rembrandt opened a studio in Leiden, which he shared with friend and colleague Jan Lievens. In 1627, Rembrandt began to accept students, which included Gerrit Dou in 1628 and Isaac de Jouderville… Read more
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