''Life of Esther'' or ''Scenes from the Story of Esther'' is the title of a series of six panel paintings by

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th cent ...

and

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...

, showing scenes from the story of

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 ...

and produced in the 1470s. They originally decorated the sides of a pair of cassoni or marriage chests, the two long panels on the fronts, and the smaller ones on the ends. They are now split between five museums in Europe and Canada. Botticelli - The Triumph of Mordecai

The authorship of the panels has been much discussed, without firm conclusions being reached. Many accounts divide the works between the two artists, either in terms of the different paintings, or different stages of the work, or both. After his father's death in 1469, Filippino Lippi completed his apprenticeship with Botticelli, and in 1472 was recorded as his assistant. Whether the panel known as ''La Derelitta'', probably by Botticelli, and perhaps rather later than the others, forms part of the series, has also puzzled scholars. The figure is often thought to be female, and a scene of Mordecai weeping is already shown in the Louvre's wide panel. A recent (2010) study, based on

infrared reflectography Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

and x-ray images, shows differences between the style and techniques of the underdrawing, and also differences in the handling of the

vanishing point A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpendicul ...

s in the perspective of the architecture. There may well have been more than two artists involved. The author concludes that ''La Derelitta'' and ''The Triumph of Mordecai'' are entirely by Botticelli, and ''Esther at the Palace Gate'' perhaps entirely by Lippi. The two wide front panels suggest a design by Botticelli, and some underdrawing, but are probably mostly by Lippi, assisted by another painter in the draperies. ''Vashti Rejected'' may be painted by a third, less expert, painter after a cartoon by Botticelli.

Collections

The division between the two cassoni is conjectural, based on the order of events in the biblical story, with the first one mostly covering Esther's part in the story, and the second that of Mordecai. Cassoni were typical wedding gifts, and this partial division into a female and male story would be appropriate for this. Theologians saw the relationship between Esther and Ashuerus as a prefiguration of that between Christ and his church.Marcevicius, 31–32.

First cassone

*''Esther's Arrival in Susa'' (''Esther at the Palace Gate''), 48,4 × 43,2 cm,

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

, Ottawa, Inv.60856 *''Ahasuerus Chooses Esther'', with the feasts of the king (left) and queen (right) in the background. 47 × 131 cm,

musée Condé The Musée Condé – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the ...

, Chantilly, PE 19, attributed by the museum to Lippi.Google Cultural Institute
/ref> *''

Vashti Vashti ( he, , translit=Vaštī; ; ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She was either e ...

Rejected'', 48,5 × 43,2,

Museo Horne The Museo Horne is a museum focusing on art and furnishings of the 14th and 15th centuries, located in the former Palazzo Corsi, on via de' Benci number 6 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. History of the Palazzo Corsi-Horne Buildings at the site were ...

, Florence, inv.417

Second cassone

*''La Derelitta'', possibly ''

Mordecai 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 ...

Weeping'', 47 × 43 cm, Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi, Rome, inv.271 *Three scenes from the story of Esther – ''

Lamenting ; Esther Faints Before

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 ...

;

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 ...

Begs For Mercy In Vain'', and Haman is hung in the background. 48 × 132 cm,

musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Paris, inv.RF1972-138 *''The Triumph of Mordecai'', 48,3 × 43,2 cm, National Gallery of Canada, inv.60869 File:Botticelli - Esther at the Palace Gate.jpeg, ''Esther at the Palace Gate'' File:Filippino, la regina di vasti cacciata.jpg, ''Vashti Rejected'' File:Filippino, disperazione di mardocheo (derelitta di botticelli).jpg, ''La Derelitta'', possibly ''Mordecai Weeping''

Provenance

The original patron and context of the paintings is unknown. The ''La Derelitta'', possibly ''Mordecai Weeping'' is first recorded in 1816 in the collection of Prince Giuseppe Rospigliosi (as a work by Masaccio). The other panels were recorded in the 1850s in the Torrigiani collection, and published by Jacob Burckhardt, who attributed them to Lippi, using the designs, and perhaps the

underdrawing Underdrawing is a preparatory drawing done on a painting ground before paint is applied, for example, an imprimatura or an underpainting. Underdrawing was used extensively by 15th century painters like Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. These ...

, of Botticelli. Filippino, ester davanti alle mura di susa.jpg, Filippino Lippi - Esther choisie par Assuérus - Google Art Project.jpg, Botticelli - La regina Vasti lascia il palazzo reale.jpg, Filippino, disperazione di mardocheo (derelitta di botticelli).jpg, Botticelli 03 Louvre.jpg, Botticelli - The Triumph of Mordecai.jpeg,

Notes

References

*Markevicius, Tomas, "The Triumph of Mordecai at The National Gallery of Canada: New Findings on Botticelli’s Role and Direct Involvement in Extraordinary Collaboration with Filippino Lippi in the c.1475 Cycle Depicting the Story of Ester", Conference: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) 2010 Annual Meeting, Volume: Postprints
Researchgate.net PDF
ccessed Jul 14 2018* Wind, Edgar, "The Subject of Botticelli's ‘Derelitta.’", ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'', vol. 4, no. 1/2, 1940, pp. 114–117,
JSTOR
{{Filippino Lippi Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists Paintings in the collection of the Musée Condé 1470s paintings Paintings by Sandro Botticelli Paintings by Filippino Lippi Collections of the National Gallery of Canada Paintings in the collection of the Museo Horne Paintings of Esther