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Claude, 'Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba', 1648
About the work
Overview
This painting depicts an episode from the Old Testament: the Queen of Sheba embarking on her journey to see King Solomon in Jerusalem. Crowned and dressed in red, the Queen descends the steps. The meeting was often painted, but it was unusual to depict the Queen’s embarkation. The soft warm light of sunrise typical of Claude’s idealised seascapes captures the gentle ripples of the water, undersides of the clouds and foliage, and silhouettes of the boats. The classical buildings on either side create a symmetrical and balanced scene, and reflect the many years Claude spent working in Rome.
The name of the man who commissioned the painting, the Duc de Bouillon (1605–1652), is inscribed on the last step in the bottom right corner, showing his interest in the subject. The round tower on the right was his principal emblem.
The picture was painted in 1648, along with its pair, Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca. These were among the first works to be bought for the National Gallery in 1824, from the prestigious collection of John Julius Angerstein (1735–1823).
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba
- Artist
- Claude
- Artist dates
- 1604/5? - 1682
- Part of the series
- The Bouillon Claudes
- Date made
- 1648
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 149.1 × 196.7 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated and inscribed
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1824
- Inventory number
- NG14
- Location
- Room 36
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 18th-century French Frame
Provenance
As for NG 12, also possibly recorded in 1772 at the hôtel de Bouillon.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Humphrey Wine, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth Century French Paintings’, London 2001; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2009Turner and the MastersTate Britain23 September 2009 - 31 January 2010
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2012Turner Inspired: In the Light of ClaudeThe National Gallery (London)14 March 2012 - 5 June 2012
Bibliography
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1745A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville, Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres, Paris 1745
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1764A.-L. de La Live de Jully, Catalogue historique du cabinet de peinture et de sculpture françoise, de M. de La Live, Paris 1764
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1787L. Thiéry, Guide des amateur et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris, ou description raisonnée de cette ville, de sa banlieue, & de tout ce qu'elles contiennent de remarquable, vol. 1, Paris 1787
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1823J. Young, A Catalogue of the Celebrated Collection of Pictures of the Late John Julius Angerstein, Esq: Containing a Finished Etching of Every Picture, and Accompanied with Historical and Biographical Notices, London 1823
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1824W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting: With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England Since the French Revolution, London 1824
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1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1884Mme Pattison, Claude Lorrain, sa vie et ses oeuvres, Paris 1884
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1903J. Ruskin, Modern Painters, eds E.T. Cook and A. Wedderburn, The Works of John Ruskin, 39 vols, London 1903
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1946Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, London 1946
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1961M. Röthlisberger, Claude Lorrain: The Paintings, London 1961
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1968M. Röthlisberger, Claude Lorrain: The Drawings, London 1968
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1972I.G. Kennedy, 'Claude and Architecture', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, XXXV, 1972, pp. 260-83
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1975M. Röthlisberger, L'opera completa di Claude Lorrain, Milan 1975
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1978A. Macintyre and K. Garlick (eds), The Diary of Joseph Farington, vol. 5, New Haven 1978-1984
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1978M. Kitson, Claude Lorrain: Liber Veritatis, London 1978
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1980J. Mills and R. White, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, IV, 1980, pp. 65-7
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1980M. Wyld, J. Mills and J. Plesters, 'Some Observations on Blanching (with Special Reference to the Paintings of Claude)', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, IV, 1980, pp. 49-63
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1980M. Wilson, Claude: Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba and Turner: Dido building Carthage (exh. cat. The National Gallery, London, 14 February - 13 April 1980), London 1980
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1982H.D. Russell, Claude Lorrain 1600-1682 (exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 17 October 1982 - 2 February 1983), Washington 1982
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1983M. Kitson, 'Turner and Claude', Turner Studies, II/2, 1983, pp. 2-15
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1987R. Beyer, Die Königen von Saba: Engel und Dämon. Der Mythos Einer Frau, Cologne 1987
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1987A. Wilton, Turner in his Time, London 1987
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1988J. Ziff, 'Turner as Defender of the Art Between 1810-20', Turner Studies, VIII/2, 1988, pp. 13-25
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1989H. Langdon, Claude Lorrain, Oxford 1989
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1990E. Shanes, Turner's Human Landscape, London 1990
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1990M. Röthlisberger, 'The Houghton Hall Claude', Apollo, CXXXI, 1990, pp. 300-3
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1991M. Bockemühl, J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851, Cologne 1991
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1991L. Bolard, 'La Symbolique des ports chez Claude Lorrain: Une revision', Gazette des beaux-arts, CXVIII, 1991, pp. 221-30
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1993D. Succhi and A. Delneri, Marco Ricci e il paesaggio veneto del Settecento (exh. cat. Palazzo Crepadona, 15 May - 22 August 1993), Milan 1993
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1994H. Wine, Claude: The Poetic Landscape (exh. cat. The National Gallery, London, 26 January - 10 April 1994), London 1994
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1995K.D. Kriz, 'Dido Versus the Pirates: Turner's Carthaginian Paintings and the Sublimation of Colonial Desire', Oxford Art Journal, XVIII/1, 1995, pp. 116-32
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1996W. Schade, Claude Lorrain: Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Munich 1996
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1999G. Bergmann, Claude Lorrain: Das Leuchten der Landschaft, München 1999
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1999C. Stefani, 'Poussin, Lorrain, Dughet e Salvator Rosa: Ricezione e fortuna del paesaggio classico tra Sette e Ottocento', Studi di storia dell'arte, X, 1999, pp. 201-30
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth Century French Paintings, London 2001
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2003C. Pace, 'Collecting French Seventeenth-Century Paintings for the Nation', Art History, XXVI/2, 2003, pp. 281-315
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2004O. Meslay, Turner: L'incendie de la peinture, Paris 2004
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2004R.E. Spear, 'Claude and the Economics of Landscape Painting in Seicento Rome', Konsthistorisk Tidskrift, LXXIII/3, 2004, pp. 147-57
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
About the series: The Bouillon Claudes
Overview
Two paintings by Claude, Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba and Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca, are known as the ‘Bouillon Claudes’ because they were made for Frédéric-Maurice, Duc de Bouillon (1605–1652), a French general in the papal army in Rome. They were completed in 1648 and remained in the Bouillon family throughout the eighteenth century. They even escaped seizure during the French Revolution, despite Bouillon’s successor being imprisoned in 1794 and his property confiscated.
Although documents survive to tell us these paintings were commissioned as a pair, the scenes belong to different biblical stories. They are, however, harmonious in the subjects they depict. Each explores the relationship between men and women, whether during a wedding celebration or because of a journey that brings friendship. There is a contrast between the bustling urban seaport and the peaceful countryside. The central activity of each painting is framed by either buildings or trees, with the sea or a substantial river in the background.
Works in the series
According to an inscription on a tree stump in the centre, this painting shows the marriage of Isaac and Rebecca described in the Old Testament book of Genesis. The couple dance with tambourines, surrounded by other figures reclining and enjoying the festivities. The flat landscape and expanse of...
This painting depicts an episode from the Old Testament: the Queen of Sheba embarking on her journey to see King Solomon in Jerusalem. Crowned and dressed in red, the Queen descends the steps. The meeting was often painted, but it was unusual to depict the Queen’s embarkation. The soft warm light...
More works by Claude
(Showing 6 of 11 works)
This warm, tranquil port scene is bathed in sunlight: the clock on the building to the left records the time as five o'clock. A coat of arms with three golden fleurs-de-lis (emblem of the French king) above the clock and on the ship’s flags to the right suggests this painting was intended for a F...
This painting combines a view of Rome, on the left, with an imaginary ruin, on the right. The distant view is of the sixteenth-century church of Santa Trinità de' Monti, where Claude would be buried. Beside this is the convent of the Sacro Cuore. These buildings are now at the top of the Spanish...
This small painting beautifully evokes the lushness of the natural world. A young man rests against the base of a tree and turns his head towards us. He holds one hand to his mouth as if playing a flute just out of view, a pose derived from images of the classical hero Orpheus charming the animal...
Aeneas, prince of Troy, dressed here in an orange cloak, left his native city and arrived with his father, son, and companions on the island of Delos, home of the sun god Apollo. Anius, the King of Delos, dressed in white, gestures to an olive and palm in the centre of the painting, two trees sac...
Not on display
Diana, goddess of hunting, stands between the huntsman Cephalus and his wife Procris. Procris gives her husband a spear, carried here by an attendant, and a magic dog. The painting is loosely based on a story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The title suggests that the pair are being reunited after a fal...
Not on display
King David and his companions emerge from the cave of Adullam. They cannot enter the city of Bethlehem and the valley below as the Philistines, whose pitched tents are just visible in the bottom left corner, occupy both. Nevertheless, three of the King’s soldiers have bravely ventured out to fulf...
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Claude illustrates the Old Testament story of Hagar, setting it in a tranquil landscape bathed in hazy sunlight. Hagar is an Egyptian servant girl who gives birth to Abraham’s child and runs away after quarrelling with Abraham’s childless wife, Sarah. Claude captures Hagar’s suffering and despair...
Claude takes the subject of this painting from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The nymph Echo is in love with the beautiful youth Narcissus, who rejects her. In Claude’s painting, the goddess Nemesis punishes Narcissus by making him fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.The castle in the...
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According to the legend, Saint Ursula, a Christian princess from Britain or Brittany, made a holy pilgrimage to Rome with 11,000 virgins. Dressed in yellow and holding a flag with a red cross, Ursula watches her companions embark on their return voyage. They carry bows and arrows, weapons that re...
Threatened with marriage to a monster Psyche, a mortal, is blown away by the West Wind. She awakens near a magical palace and falls in love with Cupid. He makes Psyche promise not to look at his divine face, but she breaks this promise and Cupid abandons her. The subject of this painting is taken...
Studio of Claude
Taken from an episode in Ovid’s Metamorphosis, this painting shows the moment when Cephalus is horrified to find his wife Procris impaled and slumped against a tree, after he has accidentally killed her with his spear. He thought she was a wild animal – the deer fleeing over the horizon was his i...
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You've viewed 6 of 11 works
