The Festival of Esther

This painting depicts a story from the Bible’s Old Testament. In the white dress on the chair is Esther, wife of the Persian King Ahasuerus, who (it’s written) concealed from her husband that she was Jewish. The king’s chief minister, Haman, hated Esther’s adoptive father, Mordecai, so in a subtle plot to kill him, he convinced the king to issue a decree of execution against Jews.

On hearing of the decree, Esther held a banquet where she revealed her Jewish identity and pleaded for her people. The King briefly left the banquet and returned to find this chief minister kneeling before the queen. Believing that Haman was attempting to seduce Esther, Ahasuerus had him executed. After this, the Jews established an annual festival on the 14th day of the month of Adar (February/March) known as 'Purim' or 'The Festival of Esther'.

In his painting Edward Armitage shows Haman (in the foreground with the yellow headdress) begging Esther for forgiveness, about to be smothered by guards and taken to his death. Mordecai stands behind the table looking down upon the treacherous Haman, while the queen's pale skin and white costume give her regal status and innocence. Although the scene is a dramatic one, the tension is measured; understated details such as Haman's overturned goblet and the carpet's flipped up corner are used to signal unrest.