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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

The subject came to be identified as ‘the Prophetess Anna’ and Rembrandt’s mother was suggested as the model. The current label, 'Old Woman Reading, Probably the Prophetess Anna', is rather more tentative. Find out more in our exhibition on #Luke 2:36–38: thevcs.org/prophet-anna...

thevcs.org

The Prophet Anna

Exhibition: The Prophet Anna (Luke 2:36–38). Featuring works of art by Rembrandt van Rijn, Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Paul Cézanne. Commentaries by Anna Gannon.

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

The older woman in Rembrandt's painting is shown deeply absorbed in reading, concentrating her attention on a particular passage (illegible to the viewer). What she has found there seems to have inspired her: her lips are parted as if smiling.

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN
Detail of 'Old Woman Reading, Probably the Prophetess Anna', 1631, Oil on panel, 60 x 48 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Purchased December 1928, SK-A-3066, Image courtesy of Open Access Rijksmuseum

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Savoldo's has to be one of the most evocative depictions of #MaryMagdalene. On her feast day, we share one of the four surviving versions of this lavishly dressed young woman out alone at night, holding the viewer’s gaze.

GIOVANNI GIROLAMO SAVOLDO
Mary Magdalene, c.1535–40, Oil on canvas, 89.1 x 82.4 cm, The National Gallery, London; NG1031, © The National Gallery, London

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

In Ambrogio Lorenzetti's panel for Siena Cathedral, our protagonist #Anna stands tall, holding a scroll inscribed with her own prophecy recorded in #Luke 2:38, pointing to Jesus. Read about it in our exhibition of the week, 'The Prophet Anna': thevcs.org/prophet-anna...

AMBROGIO LORENZETTI
detail of 'Presentation at the Temple', 1342, Tempera on panel, 257 x 168 cm, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence; 1890 n. 8346, Alfredo Dagli Orti / Art Resource, NY

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

As she leans forward, she firmly clutches her #rosary beads, which she passes through her hands. It conveys something of the depth of her spirituality, and life of prayer, which, just as for the Prophet Anna, would have sustained her at times of crisis and shaped her character.

PAUL CÉZANNE
An Old Woman with a Rosary, c.1895–96, Oil on canvas, 80.6 x 65.5 cm, The National Gallery, London; Bought, 1953, NG6195, ©️The National Gallery, London. All rights reserved

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

The art critic and writer Joachim Gasquet tells us about the identity of the sitter: according to him, she was a former nun who had run away from her convent, and whom #Cézanne had engaged as a servant.

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Is this Rembrandt's mom?⁣ ⁣ The painting's current label in the Rijksmuseum, 𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢, is rather more tentative.⁣ Find out more in our exhibition on Luke 2:36–38,⁣ 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢, by clicking on the link: thevcs.org/prophet-anna...

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Anna Gannon writes about her namesake '... mediating past and present, and boldly and unequivocally recognizing and indicating Jesus as the transformative Redeemer.' Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'The Prophet Anna': thevcs.org/prophet-anna...

Luke 2:36–38
The Prophet Anna
Commentaries by Anna Gannon

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

In this week's exhibition we consider the unusual Sotah ritual, or the ‘ordeal of the bitter water’, found in Numbers 5. ‘Sotah’ is the rabbinic term for a (suspected) disloyal wife. The first work, 'Sotah Drinks', is a painting by Richard McBee: thevcs.org/trial-water#... #CofEPeeps #narthex

RICHARD MCBEE
Sotah Drinks, 2009, Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 50.8 cm; ©️ Richard McBee; Photo: courtesy Richard McBee

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

An apocryphal tradition recounts Mary being given the ‘bitter waters’ of #Numbers 5 after her pregnancy becomes apparent. A rare depiction can be found in this manuscript made by the Ethiopian Amhara peoples in the late 14th to early 15th centuries: thevcs.org/trial-water#... #CofEPeeps #narthex

UNKNOWN ETHIOPIAN ARTIST, AMHARA REGION
The Trial by Water, from an Illuminated Gospel (f.7r), Late 14th–early 15th century, Parchment (vellum), wood (acacia), tempera, ink, 41.9 x 28.6 x 10.2 cm (manuscript), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Rogers Fund, 1998, 1998.66, fol. 7r, www.metmuseum.org

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

American-Israeli artist Andi Arnovitz created 'The Dress of the Unfaithful Wife' in 2009 from the key components of the Sotah ritual: hair, dirt, Hebrew letters, and paper. Find out more in our exhibition on #Numbers 5, 'Trial by Water': thevcs.org/trial-water#...

ANDI ARNOVITZ
The Dress of the Unfaithful Wife, 2009, Japanese paper, hair, dirt, film and threads, 110 x 46 x 13 cm, Private Collection; ©️ Andi Arnovitz; photo: Avshlom Avital

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'Trial by Water' and is on #Numbers 5. It features a painting by Richard McBee, an Ethiopian Manuscript, and a work by Andi Arnovitz. Click here to read Maryanne Saunders' commentary: thevcs.org/trial-water#...

Exhibition of the Week: Trial by Water (Numbers 5)

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Lindsay @revteapot.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

I hadn't come across this icon before (thanks @thevcs.bsky.social) but it's quite awesome and my new favourite. thevcs.org/after-order-... ⚓

Christ’s crucified body is enfolded by the wings of a white seraph—an iconography adapted from Western depictions of the stigmatization of Saint Francis (Kriza 2016: 116)—and flanked by two red seraphs. An Orthodox commentary known as On the Ancient of Days, which survives in a late sixteenth-century manuscript, states that the three seraphs here symbolize Christ’s soul (Kriza 2024: 259)—but they surely also evoke visionary descriptions from Scripture of the throne of God (Isaiah 6; Revelation 4).

Christ is represented, symbolically, twice more in the icon: as a youthful, fiery red warrior-king holding a sword that destroys the works of the devil, and as ‘a priest’ standing in ‘the power of an indestructible life … holy, blameless, unstained, ... exalted above the heavens … a Son who has been made perfect for ever’ (Hebrews 7:16, 26, 28).

The thrice-depicted Christ—priest, king, sacrifice—is enthroned inside a luminous rhombus backed by a red rectangle representing the heavens spread out like a curtain (Isaiah 40:22; Tradigo 2006: 231). In the four corners are the four living creatures of the Apocalypse, who sing ‘Holy, holy, holy’ (Revelation 4:6–8) to the sacrificial yet victorious Lamb who makes peace by his own blood.
Commentary by Victoria Emily Jones

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

From Christ's side wound grows a vine. He grabs a cluster of grapes, squeezing their juice into a chalice. To his left, the inscription translates to ‘Jesus Christ, giver of life’. On the right, an angel holds a scroll stating ‘You have redeemed us from the curse of the law by your precious blood’.

ALEXANDER PONEKHALSKY
detail of 'Christ the True Vine', c.1753, Wall painting, Biserica de Nașterea Maicii Domnului (Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary), Călinești Căeni, Maramureș, Romania; Țetcu Mircea Rareș / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Our exhibition of the week is called 'After the Order of Melchizedek' and looks at #Hebrews 7–8. Alexander Ponekhalsky was born in present-day Ukraine and settled among the Romanians of Maramureș in the Carpathians, becoming one of the most renowned artists in the region.

ALEXANDER PONEKHALSKY
Christ the True Vine, c.1753, Wall painting, Biserica de Nașterea Maicii Domnului (Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary), Călinești Căeni, Maramureș, Romania; Țetcu Mircea Rareș / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Read more about this Netherlandish triptych in our exhibition of the week on Hebrews 7–8, 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘬:⁣ thevcs.org/after-order-...

thevcs.org

After the Order of Melchizedek

Exhibition: After the Order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7–8). Featuring works of art by Alexander Ponekhalsky, Unknown Netherlandish (Antwerp Mannerist) artists and Unknown Russian artist. Commentaries by...

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

This icon from early 17th-century Russia is of the rare and enigmatic ‘You Are a Priest Forever’ type, its name taken from #Hebrews 7:17. Find out more about the third and final object in our exhibition of the week, 'After the Order of Melchizedek': thevcs.org/after-order-...

UNKNOWN RUSSIAN ARTIST
You Are a Priest Forever (Ты еси иерей во век), c.1600, Egg tempera on wood, Ikonen-Museum, Recklinghausen; The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

In this Eritrean painting from the 1940s, by an Ethiopian priest whose name is not known, Jonah slides out of the mouth of the fish. Find out more in our exhibition on Jonah 3, 'Nineveh Relents': thevcs.org/nineveh-rele...

UNKNOWN ETHIOPIAN ARTIST
Jonah and the Whale, 1940–45, Oil on canvas, 200 x 162.2 cm, The British Museum, London; Af2006,22.3, ©️ The Trustees of the British Museum / Art Resource, NY

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

This relief from Sessa Aurunca Cathedral possibly depicts Jonah preaching against the city of Nineveh, although its subject might be Jonah arguing with God on account of the city. Find out more in our exhibition of the week, 'Nineveh Relents': thevcs.org/nineveh-rele...

UNKNOWN ITALIAN ARTIST
Jonah and the City of Nineveh, 13th century, Stone relief, Cathedral of Sessa Aurunca, Campania; akg-images / De Agostini / V. Giannella

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Behnam Keryo’s #calligraphy uses Aramaic words, the language of Nineveh—Keryo’s homeland, and it recounts Jonah's preaching. The calligraphy forms six free-standing circles, as if they are ripples—but do they ripple inward, or outward? Find out more: thevcs.org/nineveh-rele...

BEHNAM KERYO
Calligraphy in Aramaic script recounting Jonah's preaching to Nineveh, 2006, Ink on paper (?), 300 x 420 mm, The British Museum, London; 2013,6026.2, ©️ Family of Behnam Keryo; Photo: ©️ The Trustees of the British Museum / Art Resource, NY

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'Nineveh Relents' and is on #Jonah 3. It features an Eritrean painting by an Ethiopian priest, a medieval Italian relief, and Behnam Keryo’s calligraphy. Click here to read the comparative commentary: thevcs.org/nineveh-rele... #CofEPeeps #narthex

Jonah 3
Nineveh Relents
Commentaries by jione Havea

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Both female figures are thought to represent Mary #Magdalene. The illumination combines various Gospel acts of anointing which came to be attributed to her in later Christian tradition. Find out more in this week's exhibition, 'The Woman with Nard': thevcs.org/woman-with-n...

thevcs.org

The Woman with Nard

Exhibition: The Woman with Nard (Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; John 12:1–8). Featuring works of art by Unknown Rhenish Artist, El Greco and Jean Fouquet. Commentaries by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona.

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Below, a second female figure kneels in a posture of penitence. She uses her hair to wipe the precious ointment and/or the tears with which she has anointed Jesus's feet.

UNKNOWN RHENISH ARTIST
Feast in the house of Simon, from the Psalter for the use of the Cistercian cloister Bonmont in Besançon, 1260, Illumination on parchment, 240 x 170 mm, Bibliothèque municipale de Besançon; Ms 54, fol. 7r, Courtesy Bibliothèque municipale de Besançon

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Standing behind Jesus, one of two female figures in this manuscript illumination towers over all the men. She holds the bottom of a jar with two hands, pouring oil on Jesus's head.

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Click here if you want to explore more works by #ElGreco on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: thevcs.org/artist/greco...

thevcs.org

El Greco

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Few artists feature in more VCS exhibitions than El Greco. In this week's exhibition we look at the artist's 'Feast in the House of Simon', continuing a closer look at Mary #Magdalene: thevcs.org/woman-with-n...

EL GRECO
The Feast in the House of Simon, c.1608–14, Oil on canvas, 143.3 x 100.4 cm, The Art Institute of Chicago; Gift of Joseph Winterbotham, 1949.397, Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

At the bottom of the page in two "framed" scenes between flanking angels—she appears once at Christ’s empty tomb, and once in a Noli me tangere, adjacent to an elegant assemblage of flowers suggestive of the aromatic nature of her anointing oils.

JEAN FOUQUET
Mary Magdalen at the feast of Simon from 'Les Heures d'Etienne Chevalier', c.1450, Tempera on vellum, 21 x 15 cm, Musée Condé, Chantilly; Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Mary #Magdalene appears twice on this page from 'Les Heures d'Etienne Chevalier', illuminated by Jean Fouquet. At the top, her prostration at the Feast in the House of Simon leaves little doubt that her act of anointing Jesus is to be read as an expression of repentance.

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'The Woman with Nard' and looks at Mary Magdalene in Matthew 26:6–13, Mark 14:3–9, and John 12:1–8. It features a thirteenth-century French manuscript, a painting by El Greco, and an illumination by Jean Fouquet: thevcs.org/woman-with-n...

Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; John 12:1–8
The Woman with Nard
Commentaries by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion is a rare piece of non-visual art on the VCS. Read about it in light of Matthew 23:37–39 in our exhibition of the week, 'Lament of the Hen': thevcs.org/lament-hen#l...

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH; PETER SELLARS
The Saint Matthew Passion, 1727, 2010, Concert performance, 2:34:54 of recorded performance, The Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin; Berliner Philharmoniker, digitalconcerthall.com, year of production: 2010

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Frans Floris employs a highly-unusual iconography. Many sources have been connected with this painting, including a sermon by #Luther urging to seek protection ‘under the wings and shoulders of Christ’. Read about it in this week's exhibition: thevcs.org/lament-hen#w...

FRANS FLORIS
Jesus Christ, Son of God, assembling and protecting humanity through his Sacrifice on the Cross, 1562, Oil on panel, 165 x 230 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris; INV 20746 ; B 260, ©️ RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Cranach's drawing recalls a prominent subject of Catholic piety: the Virgin of Mercy who with her mantle promised intercession and has been associated with the mother hen from Scripture. Read about the third object in this week's exhibition: thevcs.org/lament-hen#h...

LUCAS CRANACH THE YOUNGER
Schutzmantelchristus/Christ in Limbo, c.1538, Pen and ink with wash on paper, 265 x 178 mm, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Photo: bpk Bildagentur / Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen, Berlin / Art Resource, NY

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

This week's exhibition is called 'Lament of the Hen' and is on Matthew 23:37–39 and Luke 13:31–35. It features Bach's Saint Matthew Passion, a painting by Frans Floris, and a drawing by Lucas Cranach the Younger. For the comparative commentary, click here: thevcs.org/lament-hen#l...

Matthew 23:37–39; Luke 13:31–35
Lament of the Hen
Commentaries by Torben Hanhart

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

The three central figures from Numbers 22:1–35—Balaam, the ass, and the angel—appear in this manuscript version of the Austrian poet Rudolf von Ems’s compilation of salvific events in world history. Read about it in our exhibition of the week, 'Balaam and the Ass': thevcs.org/balaam-and-a...

RUDOLF VON EMS
Balaam's Ass, from the Weltchronik, about 1400–10, Tempera colours, gold, silver paint, and ink, 33.5 x 23.5 cm, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Ms. 33 (88.MP.70), fol. 105v, Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Gladwyn K. Bush, nicknamed ‘Miss Lassie’, was a fourth generation Cayman Islander. Self-taught, she began to paint at the age of 62 and had a prolific career. Today, we look at her highly-original treatment of this week's subject, 'Balaam and the Ass': thevcs.org/balaam-and-a...

GLADWYN K. BUSH (MISS LASSIE)
Balaam and the Ass, 1995, Oil on canvas, 52 x 101 cm, National Gallery of the Cayman Islands; Gift of John Owen, CMG, MBE and Carol Owen, MBE, Collection of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, Licensed by the Cayman National Cultural Foundation

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

In our third work of art this week, #Rembrandt’s treatment of Balaam has elements of sheer comic hyperbole. He has exploited the motif of sight to the full: the professional seer does not see the angel, yet the female animal does. Find out more here: thevcs.org/balaam-and-a...

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN
Balaam and the Donkey, 1626, Oil on panel, 63 x 46.5 cm, Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris; J 95, Album / Art Resource, NY

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'Balaam and the Ass' and is on Numbers 22:1–35. It features a manuscript by Rudolf von Ems, and paintings by Miss Lassie and Rembrandt. Read Bridget Nichols' comparative commentary: thevcs.org/balaam-and-a...

Numbers 22:1–35
Balaam and the Ass
Commentaries by Bridget Nichols

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Is your phone a portal to paradise, or eternal torment?⁣ ⁣ Artist Zara Worth explores this and similar questions in her work, 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, and in our exhibition of the week, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘎𝘢𝘵𝘦: thevcs.org/narrow-gate#...

ZARA WORTH
Think of a door (temptation/redemption), 2022, LED lighting and imitation gold leaf on polythene, Dimensions variable; Image courtesy of the artist

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Derek Hirst’s golden door, 'Puerta Grande De Oro', is beguiling and evasive. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is similarly evasive when asked in the course of his teaching who will gain entry to the kingdom. Read about this work in our exhibition 'The Narrow Gate': thevcs.org/narrow-gate#...

DEREK HIRST
Puerta Grande De Oro, 1998–99, Mixed media on board, 101 x 101 cm; ©️ Derek Hirst Estate, courtesy Flowers Gallery

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

The installation 'PN1 Penetrável' by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica is composed of narrow doors, echoing Matthew 7:13–14 and Luke 13:22–30. Click here to read about the third artwork in our exhibition of the week: thevcs.org/narrow-gate#...

Hélio Oiticica
Penetrável PN1 (installed at Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, 2008), 1960, Oil on wood, 203 x 150 x 150 cm, Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro; Courtesy Hélio Oiticica Project

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'The Narrow Gate'. Written by artist Zara Worth, it features her own work 'Think of a door (temptation/redemption)', as well as works by Derek Hirst and Hélio Oiticica. Find out more by following the link: thevcs.org/narrow-gate#...

Matthew 7:13–14, 22–23; Luke 13:22–30
The Narrow Gate
Commentaries by Zara Worth

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

This illumination in the so-called Crusader Bible is one of very few works to depict not only the encounter between David and Abigail, but also the subsequent events involving Nabal. Find out more in this week's exhibition, 'Abigail, Wife of Nabal': thevcs.org/abigail-wife...

UNKNOWN FRENCH ARTIST [PARIS]
Abigail Cools David's Wrath, Nabal Terrified, Nabal's Death, from The Crusader Bible (The Morgan Picture Bible), c.1244–54, Illumination on vellum, 390 x 300 mm, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Purchased by J.P. Morgan (1867–1943) in 1916, MS M.638, fol. 33v, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Guido Reni paints David standing confrontationally in front of Abigail. This is a moment of spiritual realisation: David understands that YHWH has sent this woman to show him the path of justice, and to direct him away from the exacting of retribution. thevcs.org/abigail-wife...

GUIDO RENI
The Meeting of David and Abigail, c.1615–20, Oil on canvas, 156.2 x 163.8 cm, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 71.524, Courtesy Chrysler Museum of Art

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The Visual Commentary on Scripture @thevcs.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

The third work in this week's exhibition is Rubens' interpretation of the meeting of David and Abigail. Abigail has dismounted from her donkey and is kneeling on the ground, pointing to the loaves of bread that the servants have brought with them. thevcs.org/abigail-wife...

PETER PAUL RUBENS
The Meeting of David and Abigail, c.1630, Oil on panel, 46.4 x 68 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Bequest of Lore Heinemann in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann, 1997.57.8, Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

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