David and Abigail
follower of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1650
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
610 x 940 mm (24 x 37 in)
Place of origin
Flanders (Belgium from 1830)
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 608966
Caption
The biblical book of Samuel, in the Old Testament, describes how David, exiled in the desert, when still an outlaw fighting against King Saul, was refused food and water by a farmer, Nabal. His wife, Abigail, went to David with a peace offering. She is shown here with her handmaidens and servants, laden with urns and sacks of food. When her husband learnt of her deception, he had a stroke and died soon after, leaving Abigail free to marry David. This version is derived from an oil sketch by Rubens (now in a private collection), but because it is in reverse, it was probably copied from the print by Lommelin. The painting now in the Getty Museum, Malibu, is also based on this sketch, with extensions to the left and right.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, David and Abigail, follower of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 – Antwerp 1640), possibly Willem van Herp (Antwerp ca.1614 - Antwerp 1677), mid 17th century. This biblical scene, described in the Old Testament book, Samuel I:18-25 shows the moment when Abigail, ‘a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance’, offers David, still an outlaw fighting against King Saul, food and drink after her husband, Nabal, had refused to supply them. Abigail kneels to the right, behind her stand her ladies-in-waiting, her left hand is held by David who is wearing battle dress. They are in a landscape setting with an entourage of horses and soldiers to the left and a laden camel and attendants holding basket of loaves to the right. David was so impressed by her act of humility that, after her husband had died of a stroke at the news of what his wife had done, David wooed and later married Abigail. David was the first king of the Judean dynasty of Israel. He was the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem and came to the notice of Saul when he slew the Philistine champion, Goliath. Saul appointed him to a military command and gave him his daughter Michal as a wife. However he had to flee the court because he incurred Saul’s jealousy. Saul’s pursuit of him for over a year drove David to became the vassal of the Philistine king of Gath. After the death of Saul and his son Jonathan at Gilboa, he reigned for seven and a half years in Hebron over the tribe of Judah, while Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, ruled the rest of Israel. On the death of Ishbosheth, all Israel chose David as king. He conquered the independent city of Jerusalem and made it the political and religious centre of his kingdom, building himself a placed on its highest hill. Zion (the ‘city of David’), is where the chose to place the Ark of the Covenant under a tent. His last years were troubled by attempted revolutions by his sons Absalom and Adonijah. He died, at earliest 1018, at latest 993 BC and was succeeded by his son Solomon by Bathsheba.
Provenance
Believed to be 3rd Lord Berwick collection: William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842); 1847 Catalogue of Paintings, p.21; 1913 Inventory p.66; bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947), on 15th May 1953.
Credit line
Attingham Park, The Berwick Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
follower of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640), publisher possibly Willem van Herp (Antwerp ca.1614 - Antwerp 1677), publisher Flemish School, publisher
References
National Trust (Great Britain), Attingham Park., 2004, p.5. National Trust (Great Britain), Attingham Park., 1985, p.47 National Trust (Great Britain), Attingham Park., 1987, p.44 National Trust (Great Britain), Attingham Park., 1990, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, p.45 National Trust (Great Britain), Attingham Park., 1999, [1999], p.2 Held 1980 Julius S. Held, The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens, Princeton, N.J., 1980 , cat.315, vol.I, pp. 435-36 & vol.II, pl. 313 Jaffé 1989 Michael Jaffé Rubens Catalogo Completo, Milan, 1989, nos. 981 & 982