Esther's Second Banquet in Art/0/en

Esther's Second Banquet in Art

Introduction

The book of Esther reaches its climax in Chapter 7 when Esther beseeches Achashverosh for her life and, in the process, accuses Haman. This banquet scene is a favorite of artists, and is shown here as depicted by J. Victors,¹ E. Normand,² and J. Steen.³ Each of the artists focuses on the threesome of Esther, Achashverosh and Haman, but differs both in the choice of which secondary characters and objects to include, and in the depiction of the figures' interactions, stance and expressions. These variations allow for different understandings of both Esther and Achashverosh's character and motives.

Contrasting Images

Victors

Victors' image is the sparsest of the three, featuring just the three protagonists around the banquet table. Esther stands in the back with her body and face positioned towards Acahshverosh, but her hand stretched towards Haman. The two men sit across from each other, the king adorned in red and Haman robed in black. The king glares at Haman, raising a staff in one hand and clenching the other into a fist. His anger is clearly visible but seems controlled. Haman, in turn, looks not at Achashverosh but at Esther. His hands clasp together anxiously as he awaits his fate.

Normand

In contrast to Victor's intimate threesome, Normand depicts his figures at a distance from one another, with a scattering of servants displayed in the back. Esther and Haman are highlighted in the foreground, as the white-robed queen kneels and dramatically points an accusing finger at her enemy. Haman reacts by cowering in his chair with his arms raised as if to protect himself from attack. The king, meanwhile, sits in the shadows and appears to be more of an onlooker than a participant in the unfolding drama.

Steen

Like Normand, Steen too chooses to depict not just the king, queen, and Haman but an audience of servants and courtiers, filling his painting with at least a dozen figures. Achashverosh takes center stage, standing with one hand raised to strike and the other clamped in a tight fist. He seems to teeter slightly backwards, from either drink, or rage, or both. Directly in front of him, his wine goblet is featured prominently, and one servant on each side of the image carries a pitcher, ready to refill it. Esther sits to the viewer's left, a hand clenched to her bosom while the extremely distraught Haman looks at the floor, his face a mask of dismay.

Relationship to the Biblical Text

The artists' choices reflect certain ambiguities in the Biblical text and different possible interpretive stances:

Achashverosh's anger

While Steen's Achashverosh is clearly full of wrath and even seems on the verge of physical attack, Normand's king seems almost apathetic, watching from afar and just inching forward in his seat to see better. Victor's Achashverosh is somewhere in the middle, visibly upset but still in control. Though the verses clearly state that Achashverosh was filled with fury upon hearing Esther accuse Haman, they do not explain the cause of such a reaction, especially considering that Achashverosh should have been privy to Haman's plan from beforehand.

Was Achashverosh simply a drunken and fickle king, given to whimsical rages and loss of self control, as might be concluded from Steen's image? Or, might Achashverosh actually have been a strong and disciplined king, who for some reason really was unaware of Haman's plans and thus legitimately angry when he heard them? Is it possible, instead, that actually Esther's news did not really shock the king at all? Perhaps her pleas simply fed into his own personal interests and his anger at Haman was unconnected to her words. For elaboration on each of these possibilities, see Achashverosh's Shock and Fury.

Drunk or sober?

While Steen prominently displays a wine goblet at the center of the table, and presents a king who appears slightly tipsy, neither of the other artist emphasizes this element. Was Achashverosh really a drunkard? On one hand, parties and drink are definitely emphasized throughout the Megillah, and in Chapter 1 the king is said to act "כְּטוֹב לֵב הַמֶּלֶךְ בַּיָּיִן". On the other hand, Achashverosh was clearly a powerful king who ruled over a massive empire, a feat not easily done by a drunken fool. Commentators vary in their evaluation of this aspect of the king, with some assuming the former and others taking a more positive view.

Esther: Docile or Proactive

Both Victors and Steen present Esther as standing by the table while she accuses

_

¹ Jan Victors(1619-1679) was a Dutch painter who painted mainly Biblical subjects, but also portraits, historical scenes and genre paintings. He was influenced by Rembrandt van Rijn. This work can be found in Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel, Germany.

² Ernest Normand (1859–1923) was an English painter. This image is housed in the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, Tyne and Wear, UK.

³ Jan Steen (1626 –1679) was a Dutch genre painter, known for both his humor and use of color. Though he focused on painting scenes from everyday life, he also painted historical, mythological, and religious subjects. This painting is housed in Museum Bredius in The Hague.