Bathsheba at her bath

The painting depicts Bathsheba in an enclosed garden, engaged in her toilette, surrounded by four female attendants and a young boy holding a mirror.

The painting depicts Bathsheba in an enclosed garden, engaged in her toilette, surrounded by four female attendants and a young boy holding a mirror. The narrative of King David's desire is conveyed by a maid approaching from the left, bearing a letter from the monarch. Ricci intentionally references the traditional iconography of Venus at her toilette, subtly merging sacred and mythological visual conventions within the composition.

Ricci's technique is marked by a luminous, silvery light that permeates the entire scene, eliminating deep shadows and modeling forms through subtle color transitions. The draperies and flesh tones achieve a pearlescent sheen. Figures are framed by delicate columns and airy balconies, creating a decorative, theatrical setting.

This approach reflects a lighter, Rococo-influenced elegance, while also acknowledging the chromatic sophistication of 16th-century Venetian masters like Veronese.

This painting dates to Ricci's mature Venetian period, following extensive travels across Europe, including major artistic centers such as Rome, Florence, Paris, and London. During these journeys, he assimilated diverse influences, from the dynamic Baroque of Luca Giordano to the refined classicism of the Bolognese school. In "Bathsheba," Ricci synthesizes these experiences, infusing the rich color traditions of earlier Venetian painting with a contemporary, light Rococo sensibility.

The painting is currently part of the collection at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Sebastiano Ricci explored the subject of Bathsheba multiple times; at least one other rendition of this biblical episode by the artist is known to exist, now housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.