David and Bathsheba

Private collection

religious

Attended by maids, Uriah's beautiful wife, Bathsheba, devotes herself to her elaborate toilette in a garden. The sight of Bathsheba inflamed King David's desire, and he is depicted in the background. Here, however, a maid approaches on the right with a letter from the king.

About the Artist

Giambattista Pittoni

1687 – 1767

Venetian painter of religious, historical, and mythological pictures. He was very popular in his day and ranks as one of the best contemporaries of Tiepolo, whom he succeeded as President of the Venice Academy of Painting, 1758-61. Pittoni never left Italy, but he nevertheless received important foreign commissions from the Swedish, Austrian, and German courts. His early work was much indebted to Piazzetta and Sebastiano Ricci, but his style later became lighter and more colourful under the influence of Tiepolo.

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