The painting ''Ahasveros and Haman at the Feast of Esther'' is one of the few works of

Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

whose complete

provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...

is known. The origin of the painting can be traced back to 1662, two years after its completion.

Subject

The subject is an episode from chapters 5-7 of the

Book of Esther The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Jewish '' Tanakh'' (the Hebrew Bible). It is one of the ...

in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Haman Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...

, councillor to the king

Ahasuerus Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly ''Achashverosh'';; fa, اخشورش, Axšoreš; fa, label= New Persian, خشایار, Xašāyār; grc, Ξέρξης, Xérxēs. grc, label= Koine Greek, Ἀσουήρος, Asouḗros, in the Septuagint; la, Assue ...

, proposed to hang

Mordechai Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. He was promoted to Vizier after Haman was killed. Biblical acco ...

for not paying him respect by standing as he entered the room or by greeting him, and the entire Jewish nation as revenge for their pride. The Jews were saved by the intercession of Mordechai's cousin

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

, who was also Ahasuerus' wife. It is this rescue that is still celebrated in the Jewish festival of

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

. In that festival, Haman is portrayed as the villain, and this is reflected in Rembrandt's depiction of him. According to the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...

this is one of the best creations of Rembrandt's late period.

Rembrandt

Rembrandt was inspired by the play ''Hester'', by Johannes Serwouters (1623-1677), when painting ''Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther''. The play was first performed in 1659 in the

Schouwburg of Van Campen The Theatre of Van Campen ( nl, Schouwburg van Van Campen, ) was a theatre located at Keizersgracht 384 in Amsterdam. It was the first city theatre, based on the Teatro Olimpico in Italy. Since 1999 the building has been occupied by "" hotel. ...

and dedicated to Leonore Huydecoper, the daughter of Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen. Serwouters wrote his play as a reaction to the

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

s in Eastern Europe. Her husband may have ordered the painting, in this way helping Rembrandt being in financial difficulties. After its completion in 1660,

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

sold the painting ''Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther'' to Jan J. Hinlopen. In the year 1662 a poetry book by

Jan Vos Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numbe ...

was published, in which there were a number of poems based on the paintings belonging to Jan J. Hinlopen. Jan Vos describes the painting as following: ::"Here one sees Haman eating with Ahasuerus and Esther. ::"But it is in vain; his breast is full of regret and pain. ::"He eats Esther's food; but deeper into her heart. ::"The king is mad with revenge and rage. ::"The wrath of a monarch..."

Provenance

Part of Jan Hinlopen's collection passed to his two daughters, this painting was one of them. Sara Hinlopen, the longest living of her family, died 89 years old, but without children. Most of her belongings passed to

Nicolaes Geelvinck Nicolaes Geelvinck (11 October 1706, in Amsterdam – 15 June 1764, in Amsterdam) was lord of Castricum, Bakkum, Santpoort, Velsen, Stabroek, schepen, and owner of the country estate Akerendam-by-Beverwijk. He was appointed as mayor of Amsterdam ...

and his three sisters. Unfortunately, her will does not mention any painting, most probably to avoid inheritance taxes. In 1760 ''Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther'' was sold as number 45 at an auction, listed as coming from

, and organized after the death of

Gerard Hoet Gerard Hoet (; 22 August 1648 – 2 December 1733) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver. Biography Gerard Hoet trained with his father and brother who were glass painters, and Warnard van Rijsen, who lived in Zaltbommel, and who h ...

, a minor painter but important collector in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

.Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met derzelver prysen, zedert ... 1752. tot ... 1768. ... openbaar verkogt. Dienende tot een vervolg ... op de ... cataloguen door Gerard Hoet ... / Uitgegeeven door Pieter Terwesten, 1770. pp. 220-234. In 1764 the painting came to

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

, most probably through the German entrepreneur

Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky (21 November 1710 – 9 August 1775) was a Prussian merchant with a successful trade in trinkets, silk, taft, porcelain, grain and bills of exchange. Moreover, he acted as a diplomat and important art dealer. His paint ...

, in financial trouble after the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

. After receiving 320 paintings at one time from Gotzkowsky, the Russian Tsarina started the Hermitage. Probably advised by

Gustav Friedrich Waagen Gustav Friedrich Waagen (11 February 1794 – 15 July 1868) was a German art historian. His opinions were greatly respected in England, where he was invited to give evidence before the royal commission inquiring into the condition and future o ...

the painting went in 1862 to the

Museum Rumyantsev The Rumyantsev Museum evolved from the personal library and historical collection of Count Nikolay Rumyantsev (1754–1826). Its origin was in St. Petersburg in the Rumyantsev house or mansion, building number 44 on the English Embankment overl ...

in Moscow. Since 1924 ''Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther'' can be seen in the

, also in Moscow.

References

{{ACArt 1660 paintings Paintings by Rembrandt Paintings of Esther Paintings in the collection of the Pushkin Museum Food and drink paintings