Esther and Ahasuerus, Oil on Canvas, Late 17th Century

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Oil painting on canvas depicting a scene from the Book of Esther, a text contained in the Christian Old Testament … Read more Oil painting on canvas depicting a scene from the Book of Esther, a text contained in the Christian Old Testament and, more importantly, in the Jewish Bible, which celebrates this event with the feast of Purim. The painting can be attributed to the Calabrian painter Francesco Cozza (Stilo, 1605 – Rome, January 13, 1682) or to a skilled pupil very close to his pictorial style. Indeed, the skillful use of chiaroscuro, the naturalistic perspective, and the chromatic colors seem to bring us back to his marvelous works. The canvas has been recently cleaned and restored and is therefore in perfect condition; the same goes for its contemporary, sandblasted and gilded frame. Francesco Cozza (Stilo, 1605 – Rome, January 13, 1682) After spending his youth in his native Calabria, Francesco Cozza moved to Rome where he was an apprentice of Domenichino. His presence is indeed recorded in Rome at the parish of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, hosted by the Minimi of San Francesco di Paola, shortly before 1630, the year Domenichino moved to Naples. He remained a guest of the Minimi until 1634; during this period, he followed Domenichino to Naples and Frascati. He remained in Rome and its surroundings for the remaining years of his life. He died on January 13, 1682. He was a follower of Lanfranco and Mattia Preti in a more mature phase. of the scene: Esther, the young Jewish wife of King Ahasuerus, presents herself to him to implore pity for her people and faints from fear. The identity of the queen and King Ahasuerus is clearly illustrated by their crowns. Completing the scene on the left are handmaidens supporting the queen, and on the right, two male figures: the elderly man with a beard and uncovered head is Mordecai, the relative who adopted Esther upon the death of her parents and facilitated her marriage to the king, advising her to keep her religious identity hidden until the opportune moment. While the man beside King Ahasuerus, with his head covered by a peach-colored cloak, can be identified as Haman, the prime minister who had ordered the extermination of the Jews and who, consequently, following Esther's expressed desire to Ahasuerus to save the Jewish people, will be hanged by order of the King. The painter's interest in scenographic compositions and the studied characterization of the figures are immediately evident. In this work, Esther's figure is subjected to a certain luminosity, giving her greater prominence than the other characters populating the scene. The drama that the painter intends to convey through the expressions and movements of the characters is noteworthy, for example: the effort of the handmaiden on the right to support Esther, who was losing consciousness, and the instinctive movement of King Ahasuerus rising from his throne to offer her his golden scepter, a symbol of his condescension to all the desires of the woman he loves. We attach a guarantee of authenticity from our antique gallery to the sale of the painting. The dimensions of the canvas are 133 x 100 cm, while those including its original, sandblasted, and gilded Roman frame are 160 x 123 cm. The painting has been recently cleaned and relined by a trusted restorer. We attach a guarantee of authenticity See less