Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009285Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman
by Jan Steen
About the Artwork
Esther, the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, effectively concealed her Jewish identity until the prime minister Haman hatched a plot to annihilate the kingdom’s Jews. To save her people Esther persuades the king (at the center) to rescind his order. He then turns against Haman, who slumps in his seat, aware of his sudden fall from power and his bleak future.
Exhibition history
Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965). Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10-September 2, 1973). Gods, Saints, and Heroes: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (November 2, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (February 16-April 19, 1981); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 18-July 19, 1981). Hollandse Meesters uit Ametrika (Great Dutch Paintings in America). Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands (co-organizer) (September 25, 1990-January 13, 1991); The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (organizer) (co-organizer) (February 16-May 5, 1991). Jan Steen’s Histories. Mauritshuis, Den Hague, Netherlands (organizer) (February 15-May 13, 2018). The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt. The Jewish Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (March 7-August 10, 2025) https://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/book-of-esther-in-the-age-of-rembrandt; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC (September 20, 2025-March 8, 2026); Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA (August 6, 2026-January 18, 2027).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jan Steen (Dutch, 1626–1679)
- Date
- c. 1668
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 96.5 x 119.5 x 11 cm (38 x 47 1/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 70 x 93 cm (27 9/16 x 36 5/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1964.153
More by Jan Steen in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009285
Powered by Art Trackers