6561 - Weyer, Hermann

Weyer, Hermann Old Testament scene (Esther and the captives Bigthan and Teresh?). Pen in black, washed in gray, highlighted in white, on paper primed with ochre; on the reverse: “Rocky Landscape” in black pen. 16.3 x 18.9 cm. Circa 1614/15. This multi-figure depiction, with a pleading woman at its center, cannot be unambiguously identified iconographically: As Christine Wolff suggests, it could be an Old Testament scene from the Book of Esther. Esther, the second wife of King Ahasuerus, received word one day that the servants Bigthan and Teresh were plotting to assassinate her husband. She succeeded in thwarting the plot, and the two servants were arrested on the king’s orders. Weyer explored the story of Esther in two additional drawings (see Christine Wolff: *Studies on the Drawings of Hermann Weyer*, Bonn 2016, cat. nos. 47 and 48). One of these two drawings is executed in the same technique as the present work and is nearly the same size. Stylistically, our sheet can be dated to ca. 1614/15. Provenance: From a “JJS” or “US” collection (not listed in Lugt). - Please request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not specified in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.