Esther Before Ahasuerus

<p>This painting depicts a scene from the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Esther, the story behind the Jewish holiday of Purim. Queen Esther kneels before her husband, the Persian King Ahasuerus, requesting an audience. Over the course of two dinners, she reveals her own Jewish identity and the plot of the king’s advisor to annihilate her people, which is ultimately thwarted. The Hebrew Bible often served as a source for early modern Northern painters; here, Frans Francken II cleverly emphasized this heroine’s multiple virtues. He highlighted her bravery by showing her reaching out to grasp the king’s scepter as well as her eloquence and cunning, symbolized by the parrot and statue of the hybrid Greek god Hermathena.</p>