Bowl with Judah and Lion Surrounded by Scened from the Book of Esther
Russianca. 1690 (Early Modern)
The Walters Art Museum
Baltimore, United States
The source for the scenes on this bowl and on a similar one in the Moscow Kremlin Armory (inv. MP-1079) is the illustrated Bible of Nicholaus Johannes Piscator (1586-1652), a Dutch publisher and engraver. This Bible was translated into Russian in the 1670s and became a source for images on objects and church frescoes. The paintings, like the inscriptions, are freely adapted: there are more scenes on the bowl than are illustrated in the Piscator Bible, and sometimes a single scene has been painted in two parts to accommodate the lobes of the bowl. The image in the central medallion seems to allude to the young Russian Czar Peter I (r. 1682-1725), while the surrounding scenes from the Book of Esther may refer to his mother, the Czarina Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina. Formerly attributed to a Solvychegodsk workshop, the bowl is more likely to have been made in Moscow.
- Title: Bowl with Judah and Lion Surrounded by Scened from the Book of Esther
- Creator Nationality: Russian
- Date Created: ca. 1690 (Early Modern)
- Type: bowls; drinking vessels
- Rights: Acquired by Henry Walters, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
- External Link: The Walters Art Museum
- Medium: silver gilt, painted and filigree enamel
- Provenance: Alexandre Polovtsoff (Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Polovtsov), Saint Petersburg and Paris, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
- Place of Origin: Moscow, Russia
- Inscriptions: [Translation] Jacob’s son, from whom Christ descended. Judah said [that] the lion will mightily conquer the enemies (cf. Rev. 5:5). Out of a thousand [virgins], Esther alone finds favor with the king and receives from him a royal crown on her head (cf. Esther 2:17). Mordecai served in the palace. He commands Esther not to reveal her kindred. The same he commanded about her people (cf. Esther 2:19-20). For seven days in the house of King Artaxerxes (Ahasuerus) his officials and servants made merry, and people of all ages ate (cf. Esther 2:18). Two chiefs of the guard of the king’s bed, grieved because Mordecai had been promoted, sought to kill King Artaxerxes (Ahasuerus) (cf. Esther 2:21). Aman (Haman), most fierce enemy of the Jews, swaggers [and] takes a ring from the king’s finger (cf. Esther 3:1.10). Messengers are sent by Aman (Haman) throughout Artaxerxes’ (Ahasuerus’) kingdom with a letter [commanding] to exterminate the race of the Jews in one day (cf. Esther 3:13). Esther sends the eunuch Achrathaeus (Hathach) to Mordecai to learn the truth. And Mordecai told her what had happened to him (cf. Esther 4:5-7). Esther approaches the king with a perturbed heart but not with sad news, [and] summons to a great banquet (cf. Esther 5:1-4). Aman (Haman) is accused, the queen reveals his evil deed, and he is hung upon the cross prepared for Mordecai (cf. Esther 7:5-10).
- ExhibitionHistory: Russian Art: Icons and Decorative Arts from the Origin to the Twentieth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1959-1960; The Hebrew Bible in Christian, Jewish & Muslim Art. The Jewish Museum, New York. 1963; A Millennium of Christianity: Russian Art from The Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1988-1989; Russian Enamels. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1996-1997
- Artist: Russian
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