Esther Before Ahasuerus Analysis

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art there is a painting by the name of Esther before Ahasuerus. An artist named Artemisia Gentilesc created the painting on a canvas using oils in Naples, Italy around the 1630s. Esther before Ahasuerus is an image that expresses the amount separation between men in the realm of equality. Although heroes small and large are supposed fight for their cause with a large amount of energy and strength the image displayed by the painter is one completely different. Men and women alike can and should be heroes but that doesn’t mean that they should act the same way in order to fight for their cause. There is a belief that a woman is never in anyway supposed to be seen or act like they are equal or higher than men in any situation. The colors, body positions and movement of the man an woman portrayed show the …show more content…
The color that is used on her can also be interpreted as a representation of possessing inner rather than outer strength. She outwardly cannot show her strength and defiance because of her role as a woman, but inwardly she is very strong and powerful in her own respect. She should always keep that strength inside because it has no place in the outside world. The reason that the gold of her dress stands out so much can be attributed to the fact that the backdrop is so dark; including the maid that is trying to help her, who has deep shadows around her entire form. The darkness that seems to overwhelm the backdrop can be a manifestation of death being near. The idea that although death seems to surround this act of defiance on her part she can still not fully look and act like a male hero would in her shoes clearly shows the restrains that society has place on her. She cannot overcome her role even with the threat of death hanging over her. The colors clearly express this idea in a subtle way, but other more defined things can also express this