Esther Before Ahasuerus (Artemisia Gentileschi)

Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the only women in the Baroque period who was given the training and ability to become a skilled painter, and became one of the most prominent painters of this era because of this. She was trained in the style of Caravaggio, as her father's style took inspiration from his. Artemisia's works tend to reflect that training and as such are similar in style to Caravaggio's, but with less focus on dramatic setting and lighting seen in his works and more focus on the people involved and their characterizations. Her paintings are also less idealistic in portraying people and more naturalistic and even a bit mischievous, which can be seen in Esther Before Ahasuerus where Esther is painted to look more like a normal woman rather than an idealized one, while Ahasuerus is made to look more comedic than a king would normally be depicted. ==Subject==

The scene in the painting is from the Book of Esther and depicts Esther, the Jewish wife of the king Ahasuerus (sometimes named as Xerxes in modern texts). After the king ordered the execution of all Jewish people in the Persian Empire, Esther went before him, without being summoned, to beg for him to spare her people. This broke court etiquette and Esther risked death in doing so. She ended up fainting before the king – the moment depicted in Gentileschi's work. Her action ended up softening the king's decision, and he permitted the Jews to defend themselves against his attack, preventing them from being killed off. ==Formal elements==

Composition While the subject matter depicted in this work is the biblical scene of Esther going before Ahasuerus to plead for her people, the style of the clothing and setting is more contemporary. The significance of the way Gentileschi depicts both Esther and the king speaks to her style and ideals. Esther is shown in better lighting, while Ahasuerus is in shadow, and the king is also depicted with an extravagant feathered hat and fur-trimmed boots that are also bejeweled. Esther, meanwhile, is depicted in more elegant and refined clothing. Gentileschi marks her as the protagonist of the scene in this way and gives her more agency while conveying the message of how much of a biblical heroine Esther is. Her works also tend to have themes of men objectifying women, as seen in Susanna and the Elders. Esther Before Ahasuerus is an example of a work that conveys both of these themes. Influences Artemisia was not singular in her choice to depict the theme of Esther before Ahasuerus. Other artists of the period had also painted this passage from the book of Esther. Like Artemisia, Guercino shows Esther swooning and being held up by her maids. In the Apocryphal text, which Guercino most likely relied on for his depiction, Esther's relationship with the King is meant to represent Mary's unity with Christ. The pomegranate, which is embroidered on Esther's dress in Guercino's and Artemisia's paintings, also symbolize the Virgin. The fruit reference's Mary's attributes – chastity and immortality.      Artemisia, a Caravaggisti, was also influenced by Caravaggio's works in Rome during her family's sojourn in the city and her father's personal relationship with the artist The gender of figure of the Gorgon in Caravaggio's Medusa also seems vague. It is suggested Caravaggio drew from his own face to create the image of Medusa, placing himself as the figure of the female mythological creature. Esther's muscular neck is also comparable to Michelangelo's depiction of Haman in the Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco. Iconography Gentileschi's rendition of this scene from the Book of Esther seems to follow the description seen in the Greek additions to the original account, which was declared canonical during the Council of Trent in 1546. One distinct difference between Gentileschi's work and the text is in how Ahasuerus is portrayed. The text states that he was "dressed in all his robes of state...a formidable sight". In contrast, Gentileschi's depiction of the king is not very formidable, and he is leaning forward in a comedic manner with a puzzled expression on his face as Esther faints. This does not seem to be the face of a king who has the power to order the execution of an entire race, and that may be part of Gentileschi's intent as far as his portrayal goes; the people in charge may not always appear as powerful and scary as their position entails. ==New findings==

Looking closely, one can see what looks like the shadow of a boy near the king's knee. X-rays by the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed that this was a figure of an African boy restraining a dog that was painted over intentionally; this is thought to be a reference to Veronese's depiction of this same scene, to which Gentileschi's painting bears some similarities. In Veronese's Esther Before Ahasuerus, however, the dog is resting by the king and not trying to attack Esther. ==Provenance==

Recent research suggests that the painting may have been started during Artemisia's time in Venice, before she moved to Naples. The work is first documented in the collection of Grafen von Harrach in Vienna from 1856. The painting was sold to Alessandro Morandotti in 1953, who later sold it to Elinor Dorrance Hill (later Mrs. Stuart H. Ingersoll) in the 1960s. ==See also==