The sumptuously dressed Oriental ruler in Arent de Gelder’s imposing, life-sized painting has all the attributes of power, including an exotic turban elaborately wound and adorned with pearls, a costly ermine cloak, and a gold scept
The sumptuously dressed Oriental ruler in Arent de Gelder’s imposing, life-sized painting has all the attributes of power, including an exotic turban elaborately wound and adorned with pearls, a costly ermine cloak, and a gold scepter, but his demeanor is that of a man weighed down by worldly concerns. With his eyes lowered and darkened in shadow and a facial expression that is resolute but muted, he stares off to his right, undoubtedly reflecting deeply on issues of moral and ethical consequence. The specific matters that have come before this potentate are not known, largely because painting is a fragment of a history painting that was originally much larger. At some point the canvas support was cropped on the left.1 It is likely that this ruler is an Old Testament king.2 Arent de Gelder’s King David, now in Amsterdam, which can be dated to 1680–83 (fig 1), and the figure of Ahasuerus in Ahasuerus and Haman of 1682–85, now in Birmingham (fig 2), wear comparable cloaks of royal distinction.3
One can deduce the identity of this particular Old Testament king through a consideration of his age. For example, his youthfulness makes him unlikely to be King David. As in De Gelder’s Amsterdam painting (fig 1), King David was traditionally portrayed as a bearded old man after his accession to the throne. It is also unlikely that the painting depicts the Persian king Ahasuerus, despite the fact that he was often portrayed holding a golden scepter, since he was generally shown as an elderly man with a beard (fig 2).4 De Gelder’s painting Esther’s 