David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
Pieter Lastman(Amsterdam 1583 – 1633 Amsterdam)1619
oil on panel
42.8 x 63.3 cm
signed and dated in light paint along lower
right corner: “PLa?tman fecit 1619” (“PL” inligature)
PL-100© 2020 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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How to cite
Pollack, Rachel. “David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed.
Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/david-and-uriah/(archived May 2020).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative
occurs.

© 2020 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, wife of
Uriah the Hittite, bathing near the royal palace walls. A servant summoned
her to his bedchamber, and soon thereafter David learned that she was withchild. 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 toabandon his men, who were on campaign against the Ammonites. No
amount of food or drink could persuade Uriah to return to his wife. So theFig 1. Infrared reflectogram ofPieter Lastman, David and Uriah,
PL-100deceitful 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 gestures and lush
undulating folds of drapery, the clarity of his design already evident in thepainting’s bold underdrawing (fig 1). David, dressed in regal purple anddraped in a red, ermine-trimmed cloak, sits high upon his throne. Twisting his
body awkwardly, David grasps his scepter in one hand while holding theletter with its red wax seal in the other. Troubled by guilt and unable to makedirect eye contact with Uriah, David gazes off to the 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 thetwo men. In the distance, Uriah’s fellow soldiers gather to await the king’s
latest command. Only the scribe at the right knows the treacherous content
of the letter, and he is in no position to 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, KingFig 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

Cyrus Returning the Vessels from the Temple of the Lord to the Jews (fig 2).
In this scene a different king, also holding his scepter, similarly delivers adecree to a kneeling man within a classical architectural setting overlooking alarge 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

similartothatdrapedaroundDavid’s shoulders.[2] The many compositional similarities between theseworks indicate that Lastman explicitly sought to contrast the actions of thetwo kings, Cyrus’s benevolence and David’s treachery. Indeed, it isnoteworthy that in 1611, the year in which Lastman designed the stained
glass window with the story of Cyrus, he also painted his earliest depiction ofFig 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,© 2020 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
Page 4 of 15

King David and Uriah (fig 3).

60.63, Bridgeman Images

The subject of David and Uriah was rarely illustrated in art; earlier prints anddrawings primarily depict the meeting of the two men, not the final
transaction of the letter. Lastman, however, rendered this fateful moment insuch a way as to remind the viewer that it marks David’s fall from God’s
grace. Lastman based his narrative on Josephus’s The Antiquity of the Jews,
a popular biblical and historical record of the Jewish people written in the first[3]

century AD.

Josephus states that David wrote the letter and “stamped itwith his own seal.”[4] This detail, which is not noted in the Bible, is clearly
emphasized in Lastman’s painting. The implications of the seal would haveFig 4. Pieter Lastman, The
Bathing of Bathsheba, 1619, oil on
panel, 42 x 63, The State
Hermitage Museum, St.
Petersburg, 5590

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] King David’s letter has theproper seal, but its content was unworthy of such honorable 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 bependants, since both works are derived from the same biblical episode andare virtually identical in size.[6] The year 1619 marked a tragic event in Dutch
history that may explain the artist’s decision to paint this biblical subject. On
13 May, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, once the great and 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 in founding the United East India
Company, and played a critical role in bringing about the Twelve Years’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 and Heino/Wijhe,
the Netherlands, Loan from
Cultural Heritage Agency of theNetherlands

Truce. In 1618, however, Van Oldenbarnevelt fell out of political favor when
he sided with the Remonstrants, a moderate branch of the Calvinist Churchthat supported the rights of each provincial government to determine its own
religious doctrine. The stadholder Prince Maurits sided with the AntiRemonstrants, 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, andsubsequently consolidated all political and military might in the Dutch
Republic. One can imagine how the biblical story of David and Uriah
resounded in certain sectors of the Netherlands, demonstrating that even thegreatest and most loyal of public servants could swiftly become a pawn in thecruel game of politics.
This exquisitely preserved painting is one of Lastman’s finest works, not onlyin the characterization of the figures but also in the way the structural clarity© 2020 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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of the composition reinforces the dramatic thrust and power of this narrative
moment. One appreciates immediately in this work why two aspiring history
painters from Leiden, namely Jan Lievens (1607–74) and Rembrandt van
Rijn (1606–69), came to Amsterdam to study under this renowned 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 ofLastman’s compositions in 1633, the year of that master’s death.
Beyond its outstanding artistic qualities, David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joabhas had a fascinating place in the complex history of the Nazi and postwar
eras that adds to the work’s cultural significance. Jacques Goudstikker, aprominent Jewish dealer of Old Master paintings in Amsterdam, acquired thispainting around 1919. In May 1940 Goudstikker fled Amsterdam just days
prior to the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, but he died tragically on theship that was taking him and his family to safety in London. Goudstikker’s
gallery and his collection of paintings were confiscated by the Nazis. The
gallery, now run by Alois Miedl, soon sold Lastman’s painting and a numberof other works to Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command, 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 byHermann 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 wasreexamined 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 purchased by present
owner in 2007.[7]- Rachel Pollack, 2017

© 2020 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. Peter Schatborn and Astrid Tümpel, Pieter Lastman: The Man Who Taught Rembrandt (Exh.
cat. Amsterdam, Museum Het Rembrandthuis) (Amsterdam, 1991), 108–9.
4. William Whiston, ed., The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish Historian, 2 vols.
(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 of Bathsheba is
first recorded ca. 1667 in the collection of the famous Leiden medical professor Franciscus dela Boe Silvius (1614/19–72) (see Eric Jan Sluijter, “Two Case Studies of Painting in Wealthy
Interiors,” in Mariët Westermann, Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt[Zwolle, 2003], 113), while David and Uriah is first mentioned in 1779 in the sale of thecollection 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).

ProvenancePossibly Elbert Symonsz. Pool (d. 1620), Amsterdam (his sale, Amsterdam, 4 December
1620, no. 9 [for 26.5 guilders to Jeltge Claes]).
Possibly Jeltge Claes (b. 1573), Amsterdam; by descent to her brother Pieter Claesz. Codde.
Possibly Pieter Claesz. Codde (1577–1622), Amsterdam (his sale, Amsterdam, 30 October
1624, no. 23 [for 23 florins to Cornelis Symonsz. Pool]).
Possibly Cornelis Symonsz. Pool (b. 1581), Amsterdam.
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© 2020 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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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]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
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, Director of
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]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 toits 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).
2. Nancy Yeide explains in Beyond the Dreams of Avarice: The Hermann Goering Collection© 2020 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
Page 8 of 15(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 other Nazi
officials. In February of 1944, Göring sold a group of at least 150 paintings (over a third ofthese from the Goudstikker Gallery)—including The Leiden Collection’s Pieter Lastman—backto Miedl in exchange for what was thought to be a lost masterpiece by Johannes Vermeer.
However, the highly praised “Vermeer,” Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, was in facta 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 oftreason 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, alongwith 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 en teekeningen
van Nederlandse Italianideerende schilders uit de 16e en 17e eeuw” (“Van Heemskerck 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
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© 2020 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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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,leermeestervanRembrandt,” 7 December 1991–17 February 1992, no. 12 [lent by the lent by the Departmentof 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
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© 2020 The Leiden Collection

David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab
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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].
Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden
Age: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection,” 23 September 2017–25 February 2018 [lentby the present owner].
Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:
Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection,” 28 March 2018–22 July 2018 [lent by the present
owner].
St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:
Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection,” 5 September 2018–13 January 2019 [lent by thepresent owner].
Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age.
Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre,” 14 February–18 May
2019 [lent by the present owner].

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Müller-Hofstede, Cornelius. “Beitra?ge zur Geschichte des biblischen Historienbildes im 16.
und 17. Jahrhundert in Holland.” PhD diss., Berlin, 1925, 75, 95, 102.
Thieme, Ulrich, and Felix Becker, 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
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Frederik.

Tentoonstellingvan

SchilderijenenteekeningenvanNederlandse Italianideerende schilders uit de 16e en 17e eeuw (“Van Heemskerck tot
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Bijbelsche Kunst. Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, 1939, 47, no. 53a.
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einzelner Werke (II).” Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 16 (1971): 24.
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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 thepainted 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.
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The painting is signed and dated in light paint along the lower right corner. PL is written in ligatureand 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.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection