David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab

1619

Pieter Lastman(Amsterdam 1583 – 1633 Amsterdam)oil on panel
42.8 x 63.3 cm
signed and dated in light paint along lower rightcorner: “PLaſtman fecit 1619” (“PL” in ligature)
PL-100Currently on view at: The National Museum ofChina, Beijing

How To Cite
Pollack, Rachel. "David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017.
https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/.
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© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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One sin always begets another. Even the great King David learned thisComparative Figures

lesson to his detriment. One day he beheld the beautiful Bathsheba, wifeof Uriah the Hittite, bathing near the royal palace walls. A servant
summoned her to his bedchamber, and soon thereafter David learned that
she was with child. In a desperate attempt to cover up his adultery, David
sent for Uriah and ordered him to go home to his wife. The noble soldier
Uriah refused to abandon his men, who were on campaign against theAmmonites. No amount of food or drink could persuade Uriah to return to

Fig 1. Infrared reflectogram ofPieter Lastman, David and Uriah,
PL-100

his wife. So the deceitful King David turned to murder—not with his sword
but with his pen.
Pieter Lastman depicts the fateful moment when King David hands Uriah aletter addressed to his commanding officer, Joab, which contains thefollowing orders: “Place Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest;then fall back so that he may be killed” (2 Samuel 11:15). Lastman
captures this pivotal and dramatic moment through expressive gesturesand lush undulating folds of drapery, the clarity of his design alreadyevident in the painting’s bold underdrawing (fig 1). David, dressed in regal
purple and draped in a red, ermine-trimmed cloak, sits high upon his
throne. Twisting his body awkwardly, David grasps his scepter in one
hand while holding the letter with its red wax seal in the other. Troubled by
guilt and unable to make direct eye contact with Uriah, David gazes off tothe side. Uriah looks directly up at the king and maintains the perfect,
upright stature of an honorable man. His fidelity to the king is emphasized
by the dog seated between the two men. In the distance, Uriah’s fellow
soldiers gather to await the king’s latest command. Only the scribe at theright knows the treacherous content of the letter, and he is in no position to

Fig 2. Pieter Lastman, King Cyrus
Returning the Vessels from theTemple of the Lord to the Jews,
1611, pen and brown ink on
paper, Kupferstichkabinet, Berlin

betray David’s trust.
Lastman derived this composition from the design he made in 1611 for amonumental stained glass window for the Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam,King
Cyrus Returning the Vessels from the Temple of the Lord to the Jews (fig2). In this scene a different king, also holding his scepter, similarly delivers
a decree to a kneeling man within a classical architectural setting
overlooking a large domed cathedral.[1] A painted copy of the stained glass
window executed by Thomas de Keyser in 1660 shows that Cyrus wore an
elegant ermine-trimmed red robe similar to that draped around David’s
shoulders.[2] The many compositional similarities between these works
indicate that Lastman explicitly sought to contrast the actions of the two

Fig 3. Pieter Lastman, King David
Handing the Letter to Uriah,
1611, oil on panel, 51.1 x 61.3
cm, Detroit Institute of Arts,
Founders Society purchase andDexter M. Ferry Jr. fund, Gift of
Mr. and Mrs. John N. Lord,
60.63, Bridgeman Images© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
Page 3 of 13

kings, Cyrus’s benevolence and David’s treachery. Indeed, it is noteworthy
that in 1611, the year in which Lastman designed the stained glass
window with the story of Cyrus, he also painted his earliest depiction ofKing David and Uriah (fig 3).
The subject of David and Uriah was rarely illustrated in art; earlier prints
and drawings primarily depict the meeting of the two men, not the final
transaction of the letter. Lastman, however, rendered this fateful momentin such a way as to remind the viewer that it marks David’s fall from God’s

Fig 4. Pieter Lastman, The
Bathing of Bathsheba, 1619, oil
on panel, 42 x 63, The State
Hermitage Museum, St.
Petersburg, 5590

grace. Lastman based his narrative on Josephus’s The Antiquity of theJews, a popular biblical and historical record of the Jewish people written
in the first century AD.[3] Josephus states that David wrote the letter and“stamped it with his own seal.”[4] This detail, which is not noted in the
Bible, is clearly emphasized in Lastman’s painting. The implications of theseal would have been understood by the Dutch. For example, in 1614
Roemer Visscher, in his emblem book Sinnepoppen, warned his readers
to distrust any official letter that did not have a seal of authenticity.[5] KingDavid’s letter has the proper seal, but its content was unworthy of suchhonorable verification.
In 1619, the very year that Lastman painted this panel, he also painted
The Bathing of Bathsheba (fig 4). He may have intended the two paintings
to be pendants, since both works are derived from the same biblicalepisode and are virtually identical in size.[6] The year 1619 marked a tragic

Fig 5. Han van Meegeren (forgery
as a work by Johannes
Vermeer), Christ and the Woman
Taken in Adultery, ca. 1942, oil oncanvas and mixed media, 100 x
90 cm, Collection Museum deFundatie, Zwolle andHeino/Wijhe, the Netherlands,
Loan from Cultural Heritage
Agency of the Netherlands

event in Dutch history that may explain the artist’s decision to paint thisbiblical subject. On 13 May, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, once the greatand heroic compatriot of William the Silent, was executed for high treason.
His death shocked many in the Netherlands, since Van Oldenbarnevelt
had served as the Land’s Advocate of Holland, was instrumental infounding the United East India Company, and played a critical role inbringing about the Twelve Years’ Truce. In 1618, however, Van
Oldenbarnevelt fell out of political favor when he sided with theRemonstrants, a moderate branch of the Calvinist Church that supported
the rights of each provincial government to determine its own religious
doctrine. The stadholder Prince Maurits sided with the Anti-Remonstrants,
a stricter fundamentalist branch of Calvinism that favored government
protection and support of one official Reformed Church. Prince Maurits
ordered Van Oldenbarnevelt’s arrest and beheading, and subsequently
consolidated all political and military might in the Dutch Republic. One can© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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imagine how the biblical story of David and Uriah resounded in certain
sectors of the Netherlands, demonstrating that even the greatest and mostloyal of public servants could swiftly become a pawn in the cruel game ofpolitics.
This exquisitely preserved painting is one of Lastman’s finest works, notonly in the characterization of the figures but also in the way the structural
clarity of the composition reinforces the dramatic thrust and power of thisnarrative moment. One appreciates immediately in this work why two
aspiring history painters from Leiden, namely Jan Lievens (1607–74) andRembrandt van Rijn (1606–69), came to Amsterdam to study under thisrenowned master. Each of these artists remained indebted to Lastman’s
influence long after their periods of study (Lievens from around 1617–21
and Rembrandt for six months in 1625), with Rembrandt actually making a
number of copies of Lastman’s compositions in 1633, the year of thatmaster’s death.
Beyond its outstanding artistic qualities, David Gives Uriah a Letter for
Joab has had a fascinating place in the complex history of the Nazi andpostwar eras that adds to the work’s cultural significance. Jacques
Goudstikker, a prominent Jewish dealer of Old Master paintings in
Amsterdam, acquired this painting around 1919. In May 1940 Goudstikker
fled Amsterdam just days prior to the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, but
he died tragically on the ship that was taking him and his family to safety in
London. Goudstikker’s gallery and his collection of paintings wereconfiscated by the Nazis. The gallery, now run by Alois Miedl, soon sold
Lastman’s painting and a number of other works to Adolf Hitler’s second-incommand, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. In 1944 Göring traded
Lastman’s painting, among others, back to Miedl for Han van Meegeren’s
Vermeer forgery, Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (fig 5).
Lastman’s painting was then acquired by Hermann Voss for Hitler’s
proposed Führermuseum in Linz.
After the war, the Allies recovered Lastman’s painting and turned it over tothe Dutch authorities in 1946. A special Dutch Recuperation Commission
decided against returning the painting to the family despite years of protest
by Goudstikker’s widow, Desirée. The painting was lent to the Groningen
Museum in Groningen from 1975 to 1987 and to the Mauritshuis in The
Hague from 1987 to 2006. The complex story of the Goudstikker case was© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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reexamined by a special restitution committee in 2005, which
recommended that the Dutch government reverse its earlier decision. The
painting was returned to the Goudstikker heirs, and eventually purchasedby present owner in 2007.[7]-Rachel Pollack© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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Endnotes
1. This cathedral is based on Saint Peter’s in Rome.
2. This painting, which is on canvas and measures 118 x 92 cm, is in the Fondation Custodia(Coll. Frits Lugt), Paris. De Keyser probably painted this work after the window was removed
from the church in 1658.
3. Astrid

TümpelandPeter

Schatborn,

PieterLastman:LeermeestervanRembrandt (Amsterdam, 1991), 108–9.
4. William

Whiston,ed., The

GenuineWorksofFlaviusJosephus,theJewishHistorian (London, 1755), 1:464 (book 7, chapter 7 of The Antiquities of the Jews).
5. Roemer Visscher, Sinnepoppen (Amsterdam, 1614), 46, no. XLVI.
6. The Bathing of Bathsheba measures 41.5 x 61.5 cm, while David and Uriah measures 41.6
x 62.5 cm. Unfortunately, the early provenances of these panels are unknown, so it cannot
be determined whether they were originally in the same collection. The painting ofBathsheba is first recorded ca. 1667 in the collection of the famous Leiden medical professor
Franciscus de la Boe Silvius (1614/19–72) (see Eric Jan Sluijter, “Two Case Studies ofPainting in Wealthy Interiors,” in Mariët Westermann, Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in theAge of Rembrandt [Zwolle, 2003], 113), while David and Uriah is first mentioned in 1779 in
the sale of the collection of Jacques Clemens, the canon of St. Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent.
7. For another painting in the Leiden Collection with a Goudstikker provenance, see Jan Steen,
Sacrifice of Iphigenia (JS-112).

Provenance
Jacques Clemens (1713–79), Canon of the Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent (his sale, Ghent, 21
June 1779, no. 151).
Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt, Munich, before 1911 (sale, Dr. Hans Stegman, Director of theBayerische Nationalmuseum, and Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt, Director of the Graphische
Sammlung, Munich, “Ölgemälde Alter Meister,” Galerie Hugo Helbing, 20 April 1917, no.
72).
Jacques Goudstikker (1897–16 May 1940), Amsterdam, before November 1919 [fromLippmann], inv. no. 646/1199, also listed as no. 1341.1[1]Confiscated by Nazi forces in a forced sale by Goudstikker Collection employees Arie
Albertus Ten Broek and Jan Dik, Jr. to Alois Miedl on 13 July 1940; purchased by
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (1893–1946) from Miedl on 13 July 1940 for 331© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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reichsmarks and delivered to Carinhall on 13 September 1940; transferred to Walter
Andreas Hofer, Director of the Art Collection of the Reichsmarschall, Berlin; traded by Göring
and Hofer to Goudstikker/Miedl, Amsterdam, on 9 February 1944 in exchange for Han van
Meegeren’s Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery ; purchased by Hans Herbst, Directorof Dorotheum Auction House, in Vienna in 1944; purchased by Hermann Voss, Director of
the Führermuseum in Linz, on behalf of Adolf Hitler for 15,000 reichsmarks, Linz no. 3928;
collected by the Allies and recorded at the Munich Central Collecting Point, 25 July 1945–29
March 1946, Mu. no. 5236.2[2]Foundation for Dutch Art Property (Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit), The Hague, 1948–52,
no. NK 2834.
Collection of the Department for Dispersed National Artworks (Collectie Dienst voor’s Rijks
Verspreide Kunstvoorwerpen), 1952–75, no. NK 2834, on loan to the Groninger Museum,
Groningen, 1953–75.
Department of Dispersed National Collections (Dienst Verspreide Rijkscollecties), 1975–85,
no. NK 2834, on loan to the Groninger Museum, Groningen, 1975–87.
Department of the National Fine Arts Collection (Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst), 1985–97, no.
NK 2834, on loan to the Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1987–97, no. 1074.
The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (Instituut Collectie Nederland), Amsterdam,
1997–2006, no. NK 2834, on loan to the Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1987–2006, 1074.
Restituted to the sole heir of Jacques Goudstikker, Marei von Saher, Greenwich, Conn., 6
February 2006 [Otto Naumann Ltd., New York, 2007].
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2007.

Provenance Notes

1. The reference to the prior owner or dealer “Lippman” appears only in Jacques
Goudstikker’s personal ledger. This ledger was essential in reconstructing Goudstikker’s
collection prior to its seizure by Nazi officials. See Ledger of the Goudstikker Fine Art
Collection (Grootboek van de Kunsthandel J. Goudstikker) , 119, inv. no. 646/1199,
Municipal Archives of Amsterdam (Stadsarchief Amsterdam).

© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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2. Nancy Yeide explains in Beyond the Dreams of Avarice: The Hermann Goering Collection(Dallas, 2009) that when Alois Miedl acquired the Goudstikker Gallery in July 1940 he also
obtained the rights to the gallery’s valuable trade name. In the years afterward, Miedl
operated as an art dealer under the Goudstikker name, often selling to Göring and otherNazi officials. In February of 1944, Göring sold a group of at least 150 paintings (over a thirdof these from the Goudstikker Gallery)—including The Leiden Collection’s Pieter
Lastman—back to Miedl in exchange for what was thought to be a lost masterpiece byJohannes Vermeer. However, the highly praised “Vermeer,” Christ and the Woman Taken in
Adultery, was in fact a recent creation by master forger Han van Megeeren (1889–1947). On
29 May 1945, after the liberation of the Netherlands, Dutch officials arrested Van Meegeren
on charges of treason for trading priceless national artifacts to the enemy. Van Meegeren’s
ultimately successful defense was that he had created Christ and the Woman Taken in
Adultery, along with six other “Vermeers” that had recently flooded the art market. For more
on Van Meegeren, see Jonathan Lopez, The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the
Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren (Orlando, 2008). Note compiled by Nicole
Cook, Leiden Collection Curatorial and Collections Management Assistant, fall 2015.

Exhibition History
The Hague, “Exposée dans les localités du schilderdkundig genootschap ‘Pulchri Studio,’”
November 1919, no. 63 [lent by Jacques Goudstikker].
Saint Louis, City Art Museum, “Exhibition of Dutch and Flemish Pictures from the 15th–17th
Century from the Goudstikker Collection of Amsterdam,” Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts,
13 January–15 February 1923, no. 35; New York, Anderson Gallery, 10 March–7 April 1923,
no. 66 [lent by Jacques Goudstikker].
The Hague, “Collection Goudstikker d’Amsterdam: 10e Exposition dans les Locaux dePulchri Studio, La Haye,” 13 March–4 April 1926, no. 87 [lent by Jacques Goudstikker].
Amsterdam, Maatschappij Arti et Amicitiae, “Tentoonstelling van Schilderijen enteekeningen van Nederlandse Italianideerende schilders uit de 16e en 17e eeuw” (“VanHeemskerck tot Haekaert”), 14 July–16 September 1934, no. 41 [lent by Jacques
Goudstikker].
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, “Tentoonstelling Bijbelsche Kunst,” 8 July–8 October 1939, no.
53a [lent by Jacques Goudstikker].
Groningen, Groninger Museum, on permanent loan, 1953–87 [lent by the Collection of the
Department for Dispersed National Artworks (Collectie Dienst voor’s Rijks Verspreide© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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Kunstvoorwerpen, 1953–75; Department of Dispersed National Collections (Dienst
Verspreide Rijkscollecties), 1975–85; Department of the National Fine Arts Collection(Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst), 1985–87].
Bolsward, City Hall, “Wurd en byld: Woord en beeld; Gysbert Japicx 1603–1666, en de
kunst van zijn tijd,” 27 June–4 September 1966, no. 41, no. 6 [lent by the Collection of the
Department for Dispersed National Artworks (Collectie Dienst voor’s Rijks Verspreide
Kunstvoorwerpen)].
Groningen, Groninger Museum, “Het Verraad: David geeft de brief aan Uria, een schilderijen
van Pieter Lastman uit 1619,” 6 June–6 July 1980 [lent by the Department of Dispersed
National Collections (Dienst Verspreide Rijkscollecties)].
Washington, National Gallery of Art, “Gods, Saints, and Heroes: Dutch Painting in the Age of
Rembrandt,” 2 November 1980–4 January 1981; Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Art, 16
February–19 April 1981; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 16 May–19 July 1981, no. 22 [lent by
the Department of Dispersed National Collections (Dienst Verspreide Rijkscollecties)].
The Hague, Mauritshuis, on permanent loan, 1987–97, no. 1074 [lent by the Department of
the National Fine Arts Collection (Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst)].
Amsterdam, The Rembrandt House Museum, “Pieter Lastman, leermeester van
Rembrandt,” 7 December 1991–17 February 1992, no. 12 [lent by the lent by the
Department of the National Fine Arts Collection (Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst)].
Jerusalem, Israel Museum, Spertus Gallery, “Painting the Bible in Rembrandt’s Holland,”1993 [lent by the Department of the National Fine Arts Collection (Rijksdienst Beeldende
Kunst)].
Münster, Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History; Amsterdam, Jewish
Historical Museum; Jerusalem, Israel Museum, “Im Lichte Rembrandts: Das Alte Testament
in Goldenen Zeitalter der niederländischen Kunst,” 1994, no. 45 [lent by the lent by the
Department of the National Fine Arts Collection (Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst)].
Greenwich, Conn., Bruce Museum, “Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques
Goudstikker,” 10 May–7 September 2008; New York, The Jewish Museum, 12 March–2
August 2009; San Antonio, McNay Museum of Art, 5 October 2009–10 January 2010, no.
12 [lent by the present owner].
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, January 2010–June 2011, on loan with thepermanent collection [lent by the present owner].
Kyoto, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, “Communication: Visualizing the Human Connectionin the Age of Vermeer,” 25 June–16 October 2011; Miyagi, The Miyagi Museum of Art, 27
October–12 December 2011; Tokyo, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, 23 December
2011–14 March 2012, no. 26 [lent by the present owner].
New York, Metropolitan Museum, on loan with the permanent collection, September© 2017 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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2012–May 2016 [lent by the present owner].
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, “Drawings for Paintings in the Age of Rembrandt,”
4 October 2016–2 January 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Paris, Museé du Louvre, “Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection: The Age of Rembrandt,”
22 February–22 May 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Beijing, National Museum of China, “Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces of The Leiden
Collection,” 17 June–3 September 2017 [lent by the present owner].

References
Freise, Kurt. Pieter Lastman, sein Leben und seine Kunst: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte derHolländ. Leipzig, 1911, 43, no. 32.
Müller-Hofstede, Cornelius. “Beiträge zur Geschichte des biblischen Historienbildes im 16.
und 17. Jahrhundert in Holland.” Ph.D. diss. Berlin, 1925, 75, 95, 102.
Thieme, Ulrich, and Becker, Felix, ed. Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von derAntike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907–50, 22:413.
Müller-Hofstede, Cornelius. “Studien zu Lastman und Rembrandt.” Jahrbuch der
preußischen Kunstsammlungen 50 (1929): 72.
Schmidt-Degener, Frederik. Tentoonstelling van Schilderijen en teekeningen van
Nederlandse Italianideerende schilders uit de 16e en 17e eeuw (“Van Heemskerck tot
Haekaert”). Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Maatschappij Arti et Amicitiae. Amsterdam, 1934, no. 41.
Schmidt-Degener, Frederik, J. E. Reesink, Rogaar, A. E. H. and Van Eyck, F.
Tentoonstelling Bijbelsche Kunst. Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, 1939,
47, no. 53a.
Von Baldass, Ludwig. “Studien über Jacob Pynas.” Belvedere 13 (1938/43): 158 n. 8.
Bauch, Kurt. “Handzeichnungen Pieter Lastmans.” Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden
Kunst 3–4 (1952–53): 227–28, no. 11.
Judson, J. Richard. “Gerrit van Honthorst: A Discussion of His Position in Dutch Art.”
Utrechtse bijdragen tot de kunstgeschiedenis 6 (1959): 59, 97–98, no. 66.
Tümpel, Christian. “Ikonographische Beiträge zu Rembrandt: Zur Duetung und Interpretation
einzelner Werke (II).” Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 16 (1971): 24.
Pigler, Andor. Barockthemen, eine Auswahl von Verzeichnissen zur Ikonographie des 17.
und 18. Jahrhunderts. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Budapest, 1974, 1:156.
Ronday, Hendrik Johan. Wurd en byld: Woord en beeld; Gysbert Japicx, 1603–1666, en de
kunst van zijn tijd. Exh. cat. Bolsward, City Hall. Bolsward, 1966, no. 31, no. 6.
© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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Tümpel, Astrid. “Claes Cornelisz. Moeyaert, Katalog der Gemälde.” Oud Holland 88 (1974):
42–44, no. 54.
Tümpel, Astrid and Tümpel, Christian. The Pre-Rembrandtists. Exh. cat. Sacramento, E. B.
Crocker Art Gallery. Sacramento, 1974, 140, 150 n. 107.
Guratzsch, Herwig. “Die Untersicht als Gestaltungsmittel in Rembrandts Frühwerk:
Beobachtungen zum Kompositionellen des holländischen Meisters.” Oud Holland 89 (1975):
260 n. 23.
Sumowski, Werner. “Zeichnungen von Lastman und aus dem Lastman-Kreis.” GiessenerBeiträge zur Kunstgeschichte 3 (1975): 154, 180, n. 25–26, 182 n. 47.
Gelderman-Leeuwnburg, Joke, et. al. Het Verraad: David geeft de brief aan Uria, een
schilderijen van Pieter Lastman uit 1619 . Exh. cat. Groningen, Groninger Museum.
Groningen, 1980.
Tümpel, Christian. “Die Ikonographie der Amsterdamer Historienmalerei in der ersten Hälfte
des 17. Jahrhunderts und die Reformation.” Vestigia Bibliae: Jahrbuch der Deutschen BibelArchives, Hamburg 2 (1980): 142–43, no. 5.
Tümpel, Astrid. Gods, Saints and Heroes: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt . Exh.
cat. Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art; Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts;
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Washington, D.C., 1980, 130–31, no. 22, 184.
Alpers, Svetlana. The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century . London,
1983, 207–8, no. 150.
Tümpel, Christian. “Die Rezeption der Jüdischen Altertümer des Flavius Josephus in den
holländischen Historiendarstellungen des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts.” InWort und Bild in derniederländischen Kunst und Literatur des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. Edited by Herman
Vekeman and Justus Müller-Hofstede. Erfstadt, 1984, 181, no. 16, 183–85, 201, n. 33.
Tümpel, Christian. Rembrandt: Mythos und Methode. Antwerp, 1986, 20–21.
Scott, Mary Ann. “An Unknown Painting by Moeyaert and Its Reconstruction.”HoogstederNauman Mercury 9 (1989): 25.
Tümpel, Astrid, and Schatborn, Peter. Pieter Lastman, leermeester van Rembrandt . Exh.
cat. Amsterdam, The Rembrandt House Museum. Amsterdam, 1991, 108–9, no. 12.
Heer, Ed de. “Pieter Lastman, leermeester van Rembrandt.” Vitrine 4 (1991): 27.
Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst. Old Master Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue . Zwolle, 1992,
173, no. 1458.
Broos, Ben. Intimacies and Intrigues: History Paintings in the Mauritshuis . Exh. cat. The
Hague, Mauritshuis. The Hague, 1993, 187–94, no. 22.
Sluijter-Seijffert, Nicolette C. Mauritshuis: Illustrated General Catalogue. Amsterdam, 1993,
194, no. 1074.
Weyl, Martin, and Weiss-Blok, Rivka. Rembrandt’s Holland. Exh. cat. Jerusalem, Israel© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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Museum, Spertus Gallery. Jerusalem, 1993, 158, no. 157.
Tümpel, Christian. Im Lichte Rembrandts: Das Alte Testament im Goldenen Zeitalter derniederländischen Kunst. Exh. cat. Münster, Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural
History; Amsterdam, Jewish Historical Museum; Jerusalem, Israel Museum. Munich, 1994,
276, no. 45.
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2004, 182–83, no. 1074.
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vols. Petersberg, 2005, 1:374, no. 355.
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Nord/Sud; Ricezioni fiamminghe al di qua delle Alpi; Prospettive di studio e indagini
tecniche. Edited by Anna De Floriani and Maria Clelia Galassi. Milan, 2008, 157–65.
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Greenwich, Bruce Museum; New York, The Jewish Museum. New Haven, 2008, 124–29,
no. 12.
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Goering Collection. Dallas, 2009, 275, no. A339.
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1400–1700.” In A Companion to Renaissance and Baroque Art. Edited by Babette Bohn
and James Saslow. Chichester, 2013, 115–16, no. 5.3.
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Paintings.” In Drawings for Paintings in the Age of Rembrandt . Exh. cat. Washington D.C.,
National Gallery of Art; Paris, Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, 2016, 21–22.

Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of horizontal, wavy-grained, rectangular oak, has bevels on all foursides.[1] The unthinned and uncradled panel has shallow vertical handtool marks and two small
wood inserts along the lower edge.[2] Ten paper labels, three round import stamps, and various
numerical inscriptions are located on the reverse of the panel, but there are no machine
toolmarks, wax seals, stencils or obvious panel maker’s marks.
A light-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied with sweeping horizontal and diagonal
strokes, followed by thinly and smoothly applied paint throughout most of the composition anddrapery folds; areas of detail are built up in low impasto.
Infrared images captured at 780–1700 nanometers reveal an extensive underdrawing below the© 2017 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
Page 13 of 13

painted composition. A freehand graphite sketch rather than an ink wash was used to lay out thecomposition. King David’s elaborate drapery folds included a horizontal sash and large bow with
two loops. Uriah was also completely sketched, including his drapery folds, helmet with plume,
and arms. In the underdrawing, the crisp folds of the corners of the tablecloth to David’s righthung lower and the upper edge of the fabric, which hangs between the columns directly behindDavid, was executed with a low hung swag in the center, although it was then painted straight,
parallel to the upper panel edge. An additional figure drawn at the far right has been obscured by
the painted green drapery. The domed building and landscape in the distance seen at the left
were added during the paint stage, but are not visible in the X-radiograph and were notunderdrawn.
The painting is signed and dated in light paint along the lower right corner. PL is written inligature and the s is written as a long descending s.
The painting has not undergone conservation treatment since its acquisition and remains in agood state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on visual examination only.
2. Three splits emanating from the center of the left edge were already noted in a 2009
condition report.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection