Minneapolis Institute of Art
Esther and Ahasuerus
Flanders (Tournai)LinkedCulture matchlcp-853a3c94b67b
- Date
- c. 1460–85
- Medium
- Wool, silk, tapestry weave
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 109
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
This tapestry depicts several scenes from the Old Testament story of Esther. A beautiful young Jewish woman, Esther, was the queen of King Ahasuerus of Persia. When the king’s chief advisor, Haman, ordered all the Jews in Persia killed, Esther appealed to the king. At the left, Ahasuerus receives Esther and agrees to attend a banquet she has prepared. At the banquet (right), Esther asks Ahasuerus, who had not known she was Jewish, to spare her people. He grants her request, and Haman is later put to death. This tapestry is a fragment from the center of a larger piece that had at least three major scenes and several smaller ones. The story of Esther is also depicted on a 17th century embroidered box in gallery 310. Belgium, Europe
The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. C. J. Martin for the Charles Jairus Martin Memorial Collection
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Minneapolis Institute of Art and other institutions.