These paintings represent two different imaginings of the Old Testament story of David and Bathsheba. King David, looking out of his window, saw the beautiful Bathsheba washing herself and desired her. Though she was already married to Uriah, a soldier in his army, David sent a letter to her and she came to him, eventually becoming his wife and bearing a child named Solomon, who succeeded David on the throne.
The story of David and Bathsheba was a popular theme in seventeenth-century Dutch art, inspiring a range of interpretations that explored its erotic and moral aspects. Cornelius Bisschop’s painting collapses the narrative, showing David observing the nude Bathsheba at her fountain, though she already reads his love letter. Steen depicts Bathsheba receiving the letter in her home. The domestic setting emphasizes her status as a married woman, and highlights the unsteady moral grounds of the narrative. In both cases the figure of David, watching Bathsheba from his tower, reminds viewers of their own voyeuristic gaze.
Details
- Artist Name: Cornelis Bisschop (Dutch, 1630-1674)
- Title: Bathsheba
- Date: c. early 1660s
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Dimensions: 15-1/2 x 13-1/4 in. (39.4 x 33.7 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1969.45.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
[Sanct Luca, Vienna, 1931 to];
Daniel George van Beuningen, Rotterdam by 1932.
[Kurt Walter Bachstitz Gallery, The Hague, 1932 as Maes].
Hans Ludwig Larsen (d. 1937), Noordwijk and Wassenaar, by descent to;
Mrs. H. L. Larsen (S. Larsen-Menzell, later called Mrs. Frank E. Brower); (sale, The Hague, van Marle & Bignell, 25 January 1943, no. 48, sold before the sale on 14 January 1943 to);
E. Göpel for the Führermuseum, Linz; bought through Posse by Hitler 1 March 1943;
Recovered and returned to Dutch government; after lengthy negotiations, Larsen’s estate refused restitution and the painting reverted to the government (sale, Amsterdam, Frederik Muller, 13-19 March 1951, no. 52, ill., as Maes, La Baigneuse);
[Martin B. Asscher, London, 1953].
W. A. Hofer, Berlin 1953.
Ch. van Spaendonck, Tilburg.
[Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam 1968; sold 1969 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
[on loan]
- London, Royal Academy, 1952 to
An Exhibition of the von Auspitz Collection of Old Masters, by Courtesy of Herr Walter Bachstitz
- London, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1932-11 to 1932-12
Rembrandt's Influence in the 17th Century
- London, Matthiesen Gallery, 1953-02-20 to 1953-04-02
Old Masters
- Gebr. Douwes Fine Art, 1968 to
[on loan]
- Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum, 1970-01-08 to 1970-04-28
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1974-04-29 to 1974-11-27
Rembrandt and his Pupils: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings Commemorating the 300th Anniversary of Rembrandt
- Montreal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1969-01-09 to 1969-02-23
- Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1969-03-14 to 1969-04-27
Encountering the Dutch Likeness: Portraiture in 17th Century Holland
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1996
The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400-1750)
- Norton Simon Museum, 2021-10-15 to 2022-03-07
- Judson, Richard J., The Burlington Magazine, p. 704
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, An Exhibition of the von Auspitz Collection of Old Masters, by courtesy of Herr Walter Bachitz, 1932, no. 18
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, An Exhibition of the von Auspitz Collection of Old Masters, by Courtesy of Herr Walter Bachstitz, 1932, no. 18
- Chamot, M., Country Life, 1947, p. 563
- Matthiesen Gallery, London, Rembrandt's Influence in the 17th Century, 1953, no. 52
- Sumowski, Werner, Wissenschaftliche Zietschrift der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Gesellschafts-und Sprachwissenschasftliche Reihe, 1956, fig. 60 p. 282
- Haverkamp-Begemann, Egbert, Kunstchronik, 1960, p. 288
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Rembrandt and his Pupils, 1969, no. 96 p. 107
- Sumowski, Werner, Gemälde der Rembrandt Schüler, III, 1983, pp. 1962, 1965, 1989
- Sluiter, Eric Jan, Rembrandt's Bathsheba Reading King David's Letter, 1998,
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 701 p. 329
- Shuji Takashina, Why the 'Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci' being the great masterpieces?, 2014, 1660 p. 81
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