Bathsheba Makes an Appeal to King David

The subject of this painting is a rare one, and is often confused with the story of Esther and Ahasuerus. King David is old and weak when Bathsheba visits him. Bathsheba reminds him that he promised that her son Solomon would be king after him. This is a sensitive matter, as David’s son Adonijah has already made himself king - without telling his father. David listens to her and orders that Solomon is to be anointed king over Israel.

For Jan van Noordt the source of inspiration was certainly the 1646 painting of the same subject by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, now in Prague.

The painting is on long-term loan to the Sz�pm�v�szeti M�zeum, Budapest from a private collection.