Dimensions: support: 263 x 376 mm frame: 370 x 479 x 50 mm
Copyright: NaN
Editor: So, this is William Blake's "Bathsheba at the Bath," a watercolor. The figures seem to be caught in a dreamlike state, almost floating. What’s your take on this piece? Curator: Blake, often a critic of power structures, presents Bathsheba not as a passive object of King David's gaze, but surrounded by a dynamic group. This challenges the traditional, patriarchal interpretation. Do you see how their movement subverts the typical power dynamic in the biblical story? Editor: I hadn't considered that. It's like she's not alone in this moment; there's a collective experience happening. Curator: Exactly. Blake uses this visual language to question the exploitation inherent in the original narrative, inviting us to reconsider Bathsheba's agency within it. Editor: That changes everything! Thanks for pointing that out. Curator: Of course. It's important to remember that art is always in dialogue with its historical and social context.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-bathsheba-at-the-bath-n03007
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This is one of fifty small biblical pictures commissioned from Blake by his patron, Thomas Butts, in 1799. It illustrates a verse from the second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament: And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that King David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the palace: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. This woman was Bathsheba, wife of Uriah. David, shown in the upper right corner, was to father her child, and arrange the death of her husband. Gallery label, April 2001
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