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Bathsheba at Her Bath

Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669)
Date: 1654
Dimensions: 142 x 142 cm
Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Bathsheba at Her Bath shows the biblical heroine seated naked after bathing, holding a letter from King David, who has seen her from his roof and summoned her to the palace, although she is married to one of his soldiers.

A closer look

Rembrandt chose the moment of reflection rather than seduction. Bathsheba sits almost life-size, her body painted with warmth and without idealisation, while an old servant dries her feet. Her head is lowered and her eyes look past the letter, troubled: she knows that obeying the king means betraying her husband Uriah, whom David will later have killed. The gold and white fabrics glow against a dark background. The model is generally thought to be Hendrickje Stoffels, Rembrandt's partner, who that same year was summoned before the church council for 'living in sin' with him.

History of the painting

After passing through several private collections, the painting entered the Louvre in 1869 with the bequest of the Paris doctor Louis La Caze, whose gift of several hundred paintings was one of the largest the museum has ever received. Bathsheba is now among the Louvre’s most important works by Rembrandt.

Bathsheba at Her Bath

A closer look

History of the painting

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