David Watching Bathsheba Bathe
Medium
Engraving with etching
Dimensions
sheet: 16 7/16 x 12 15/16 in. (41.7 x 32.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.15-31
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate yet morally charged scene *David Watching Bathshebahe*, French artist Laurent de La Hy (or possibly engraver de la Court after his design) captures a pivotal biblical moment from 2 Samuel 11. King David gazes covetously from his rooftop at the beautiful Bathsheba as she bathes, a encounter that sparks adultery, murder, and divine judgment. Rendered in the 17th-century French Classical Baroque style, La Hyre's composition blends elegant figure drawing with subtle narrative tension, emphasizing themes of desire and consequence that resonated in Counter-Reformation art. This unda...
About the Artist
de la Court|Laurent de La Hyre (French|French) · |1606 – |1656
|French, Paris 1606–1656 Paris