About this artwork
Farinati produced this drawing as part of a preparatory design for a frescoed frieze in the Casa Sebastiani (now the Biblioteca Civica), Verona. The frieze represents the climax in the Old Testament story of Ahasuerus, the powerful king of Persia, and his queen Esther. Their wicked chief minister Haman had plotted to exterminate all the Jews of the kingdom, and managed to persuade the King to allow him to do so. Unbeknown to Haman, the queen was Jewish and she overheard his plot. Esther exposed Haman’s treachery, thereby saving her people. Haman was to be executed, but some of his supporters rose up in defiance. Farinati has represented the Jewish forces’ reaction to this, as they exacted a terrible revenge on the insurgents.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Paolo Farinati (1524 - 1606) Italian
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title:The Jewish Forces Vanquishing the Supporters of Haman
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date created:1586
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materials:Pen, brown ink and wash, heightened with white, on blue paper
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measurements:23.70 x 43.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:David Laing Bequest to the Royal Scottish Academy on loan 1966
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accession number:RSA 153
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gallery:
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subject:
Paolo Farinati
Paolo Farinati
Farinati was born in Verona and became the city’s leading painter in the later part of the sixteenth century after his compatriot Paolo Veronese moved to Venice in the early 1550s. Farinati was not only a successful painter, but also a prolific and accomplished draughtsman. According to Vasari,...
