Esther before Ahasuerus

“I will show your illustrious lordship what a woman can do.” With these words, written in a letter to a patron, painter Artemisia Gentileschi evoked her status as both a wonder and an oddity – a rare woman artist in 17th century Europe. Gentileschi often painted Biblical themes for elite patrons, such as this depiction of the story of Esther. Esther appears before her husband, Persian king Ahasuerus, to appeal to him not to carry out a pogrom against Jewish subjects. While scholars typically focus on the gendered aspects of Gentileschi’s work, this painting also reveals – or rather, conceals – racial histories. Gentileschi had originally painted an African servant in the middle of the portrait, then painted the figure out. There was a rise in representations of Black people in early Modern European painting, a reflection of the expanding importance of the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people.