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David and Uriah

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David and Uriah
ArtistRembrandt van Rijn
Yearcirca 1665
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions127 cm × 116 cm (50 in × 46 in)
LocationHermitage, St-Petersburg

David and Uriah is a late, oil-on-canvas painting by Rembrandt, dated to around 1665 by the Hermitage Museum (which owns it[1]) or c. 1666–1669 in the 2015 Late Rembrandt exhibition at the Rijksmuseum. It shows the moment when David sends Uriah the Hittite to the frontline of the war with the Ammonites so that David can sleep with Uriah's wife Bathsheba.[2] Uriah is identified as the foreground figure, with David and Nathan in the background. It was first given this title by Abraham Bredius in his catalogue of Rembrandt's work – this has been supported by several other scholars from 1950 onwards, including in a 1965 study by Madlyn Kahr.[3]

The work has also been identified as Haman Recognises His Fate after Haman from the Book of Esther. It entered the Russian imperial collection in 1773 with that title, which the Hermitage still retains.[4][5]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Catalogue page - Hermitage
  2. ^ (in Dutch) Melissa Ricketts: Rembrandt. Meester van licht en schaduw, Rebo, 2006, blz. 121. ISBN 9039619239
  3. ^ Web Gallery of Art entry
  4. ^ Madlyn Kahr: A Rembrandt Problem: Haman or Uriah? Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. Vol. 28, 1965, blz. 258-273
  5. ^ Analyse in John Caroll: De teloorgang van de westerse cultuur. Een andere kijk op 500 jaar humanisme