Ruth’s Loyalty

This is a more recent Bible illustration from 1965. It’s by the American artist Francis Marshall (1901-1980) who worked also for Vogue and did a lot of book and magazine illustrations.

Tamar seducing Judah

The Meeting of Tamar and Judah (1555-58) by the Italian Renaissance painter Tintoretto (1518–1594).

It’s the story how Tamar seduces her father-in-law disguised as a prostitute. But because Tamar isn’t disguised at all it seems that the story is more an excuse for the artist to show the elegant noble clothes and the dramatic landscape in the back.

Rococo Bathsheba

Bathsheba by the Italian painter Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734).

Ricci depicted here a lazy rococo court lady with her maidservants taking care of her beautiful body. Bathsheba is probably aware of King David on his balcony. She’s a kind of Madame de Pompadour who wants to become queen in seducing the king.

Delilah - Film

The American actress Hedy Lamarr as Delilah in the film Samson and Delilah (1949). It’s interesting to see this more recent interpretation of the old myth, especially the typical Hollywood makeup and hairstyle of the early 1950s.

Old Sarah and young Hagar

The Dutch painter Adriaen van der Werff (1669-1722) depicts here how Sarah presents her young slave Hagar to her husband so that he can have children with her. Werff confronts here the old face of Sarah with the young naked and fertile looking body of Hagar.

A Modern Application

This painting "The Servant" (1994) is by the American fantasy artist Gerald Brom (born 1965). And though it probably not pretends to be an interpretation of the old story of Salome and St. John the Baptist, it is unavoidable to see that myth in it. The iconography is in this case so strong, that a head on a plate will always be seen as that of St. John.

Drunken Lot

Lot and his Daughters (c. 1651) by the Italian Baroque painter Gian Francesco Barbieri (1591-1666).

It’s the typical setting: Lot between his seductive daughters drinking the offered wine (probably to daze his conscience) and in the back the burning Sodom with the statue of the mother half on the way.