Sebastiano Ricci, 'Esther before Ahasuerus', probably 1730-4

In this picture we see Esther, the Jewish heroine of the Old Testament, presenting herself to Ahasuerus, King of Persia, in an attempt to save the Jewish population of Persia, who he had condemned to death. In doing so, she was risking her life: approaching the King without his permission was punishable by death. The king’s armed guards look ready to react on his command.

Ahasuerus points his golden sceptre towards Esther, a sign that she can speak, but she faints as he does so; her attendants rush to support her. Their interaction is described in the Book of Esther (5: 1–2), but the incident of Esther fainting only appears in apocryphal additions to the book (15: 7). Ahasuerus ultimately accepted Esther’s plea, saving the Jewish community.

The figure at the lower right may be the king’s advisor Haman, who had encouraged him to carry out the massacre. His spiteful and devious nature resulted in his ignominious end: he was executed. The blue of Haman’s robe is echoed in Esther’s dress, and their complementary poses, on either side of Ahasuerus, may allude to their competition for his favour.

Despite the complexity of the scene, the main figures stand out from the details in the background because of the deeper colours of their clothing and their more detailed finish. Ricci has emphasised the continued relevance of this story and of Esther’s courage by combining imagery from different time periods: the biblical characters are given a backdrop of classical architecture, and Esther and Ahasuerus are dressed in eighteenth-century clothing. The foreground activity is framed by an elaborate red canopy and curtain, with a grand loggia (open-sided gallery or room) and an archway beyond, which create an illusion of depth. Painted around 1730/4, this picture shows that the sixteenth-century artist Veronese still had a huge influence on Venetian painting. Many of the same tropes, such as the pale backdrop and classical arches, are visible even in a small sketch like this – compare it with Veronese’s much larger Family of Darius before Alexander, which was produced around 160 years earlier.

The loose handling of the paint and the small scale suggest that this was a modello for a larger work, although no such finished painting is known. It was probably painted towards the end of Ricci’s career and shortly before his death in 1734.