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King Ahab Sulking in Bed

King Ahab Sulking in Bed

Artist/Maker (Dutch, 1498–1574)
Date1561
MediumPen and iron gall ink on beige laid paper; contours indented with a stylus
DimensionsImage: 7 3/4 × 9 7/8 in. (19.7 × 25.1 cm)
Sheet: 7 7/8 × 10 in. (20 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineFriends of Art Fund
Object number1950.51
Status
Not on view
More Information
The drawing depicts the scene from I Kings 21:4-7 in which, having been refused the opportunity to purchase a vineyard, Ahab has taken to his bed and is comforted by his wife, Queen Jezebel, who secretly plans to kill Naboth, the vineyard's owner. The drawing is the first in a series of six made in 1561 for a set of prints illustrating the story of Jezebel's treachery. It is a tour-de-force that repays detailed examination, from the king's crown and scepter on the table to the brilliantly shining sun over the distant landscape.
Exhibition History
Drawings and Watercolors from the Oberlin Collection
  • University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (March 11, 1956 - April 1, 1956 )
Oberlin Friends of Art: 25 Years of Collecting
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (March 5, 1963 - March 26, 1963 )
Working Drawings
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 24, 1981 - April 27, 1981 )
The Renaissance in Oberlin: Graphics from the Permanent Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 25, 1986 - December 31, 1986 )
Print Council Exhibition: Selections from the Prints and Drawings Collection at the Allen Memorial Art Museum
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 5, 1988 - June 5, 1988 )
Northern Renaissance Prints and Drawings
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 6, 1990 - January 27, 1991 )
European Master Drawings from the Allen Memorial Art Museum
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (October 29, 2002 - June 9, 2003 )
On Line: European Drawings, 16th-19th Centuries
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 18, 2007 - January 27, 2008 )
Collections
  • European
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.