1668
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman is a 1668 unspecified by Jan Steen, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A long table fills the room, packed with people in fancy clothes. The king sits in the middle, pointing at a man who looks ready to faint. A woman in gold stands beside him, hands pressed together like she’s begging. This painting shows the moment the king realizes his top advisor has been lying. The advisor, Haman, slumps in his chair—his face says he knows he’s in big trouble. Jan Steen painted everyday life, but here he tells a Bible story with the same messy energy. If you like this, look up other paintings of the Netherlands—this was Steen’s world.
Esther, the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, effectively concealed her Jewish identity until the prime minister Haman hatched a plot to annihilate the kingdom’s Jews. To save her people Esther persuades the king (at the center) to rescind his order. He then turns against Haman, who slumps in his seat, aware of his sudden fall from power and his bleak future.
At the center of this biblical scene, Steen included elements of a typical Dutch still life: a Roemer glass, a half-peeled lemon, and a blue-and-white porcelain dish.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century.
See the richer artist page
