David and Bathsheba

David and Bathsheba

Title

David and Bathsheba

[cda 2022]

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

Medium

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

[KHM online catalogue, accessed 22.11.2022]

The subject is taken from second Book of Samuel (11: 2-17). From the roof of his palace King David sees a beautiful woman bathing. This was Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's generals. She was brought before the King, who seduced her and made her pregnant. Her

The subject is taken from second Book of Samuel (11: 2-17). From the roof of his palace King David sees a beautiful woman bathing. This was Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's generals. She was brought before the King, who seduced her and made her pregnant. Her then inconvenient husband was despatched to the front line in battle, where he inevitably met his end, and David and Bathsheba were married. The child of their union, however, survived only a few days, and David subsequently did penance. Despite David's morally indefensible behaviour, the story was regarded by the medieval church as a typological prefiguration of Christ (David) and the Church (Bathsheba).

King David is shown standing on the balcony of his palace, while strumming upon his harp. The palace is surrounded by a small stream or moat, beside which Bathsheba sits with her attendants, one of whom washes her feet. The other two women appear as fashionably dressed spectators, the one in the foreground catches the eye of the viewer.

[cda 2022]

Attribution
Wolfgang Krodel the Elder

Attribution

Wolfgang Krodel the Elder

[KHM online catalogue, accessed 22.11.2022]

Production date
1528

Production date

1528

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 54 x 39 cm

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

Dated on the window frame: '1528'

Signature / Dating

  • Dated on the window frame: '1528'

Inscriptions and Labels
  • top right: 'IM ANDEREN BVCH SAMVEL AM. II. CA'
  • on the decorated reverse, a coat of arms and the inscription:

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

Owner
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Repository
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Location
Vienna
CDA ID
AT_KHM_GG897
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/AT_KHM_GG897/

Provenance

Research History / Discussion

The meeting of David and Bathsheba was a favourite pictorial theme in the Cranach workshop and was treated by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his sons on several occasions and in a variety of media. The earliest example is a woodcut for Luther's translation of the Old Testament and was published in 1524. In this Cranach established a design which served as the basis for later versions by him, his workshop, and followers. The first painted version of the subject dates from 1526 [DE_smbGG_567B]

[cda 2022]

  • David and Bathsheba, 1528

Images

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Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'David and Bathsheba', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/AT_KHM_GG897/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'David and Bathsheba', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/AT_KHM_GG897/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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