The queen stands in white and holds the messengers back.
Bible in art · Esther
Queen Vashti Refuses the King's Command
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
Pannemaker-Doms engraved this plate, one of several Doré set at the Persian court of the book of Esther in his 1866 Bible.
Queen Vashti stands in a doorway at the top of the steps in a white robe, one hand on her breast, the other stretched out to hold back a bearded messenger. Around her, men in elaborate armor and robes — servants, guards, a bearer with a feather fan — press in. A carved winged bull guards the arch.
From the text
- The king sent seven eunuchs to bring her (Esther 1:10)
- “to bring Queen Vashti before him, wearing her royal crown” (Esther 1:11)
- “Queen Vashti, however, refused to come” (Esther 1:12)
The artist’s own
- An Assyrian winged bull beside the doorway
- A tall fan of feathers carried behind the guard
- Her refusal shown as a gesture — the king and his anger stay out of sight
Details
Vashti
A messenger
A bearded man is pushed back by her outstretched hand.
Winged bull
A carved winged bull with a human head guards the arch.
Feather fan
A tall fan of feathers rises above the guards.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 111 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.