Willem de Poorter (Haarlem 1608-died after 1648)
Mordecai Listening to the Conspiracy of Ahasuerus's Chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh 1629-48
Oil on panel | 43.1 x 36.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403902
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Mordecai overhears a conspiracy to murder King Ahasuerus hatched by two of his courtiers; the episode is told in the Old Testament book of Esther (II, 21). Though bearing a false signature ‘GDou’, this is probably the work of Willem de Poorter, a painter from Haarlem much influenced by Rembrandt’s early work and possibly his pupil. Two richly dressd men stand talking in arched entrance to a temple, which is flanked by a stone statue of a warrior with shield. In the shadows to the right a third man, dressed in a voluminous cloak and with bare feet, sits listening to the conversation.
Provenance
First recorded at Windsor in 1852
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
43.1 x 36.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
56.6 x 49.7 x 5.0 cm (frame, external)
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