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Border with Micaiah Foretelling the Death of King Ahab

Creator

Flemish Illuminator · 1483–1561

Artist

One of the most celebrated painters of Flanders in the 1500s, Simon Bening was hailed by Portuguese art critic Francisco da Hollanda as the greatest master of illumination in all of Europe. In addition to producing books for powerful aristocrats such as Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Bening worked for a group of international royal patrons including Emperor Charles V and Don Fernando, the Infan

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Date: about 1525–1530
Medium: Tempera colors, gold paint, and gold leaf
Culture: Flemish
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum

King Ahab stands on the porch of a great palace listening in dismay as the prophet Micaiah foretells his defeat and death in a forthcoming battle. Angry with Micaiah's prophesy, the king chose to believe the words of the prophets who told him what he wanted to hear, that he would succeed. Before going off to the battle, where he was indeed killed, Ahab threw Micaiah in jail. Simon Bening paired this scene of a righteous man condemned for speaking the truth with the similar story of Christ before Annas, depicted on the facing page.

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