The Story of Esther
Marco del Buono·1455
Historical Context
The Story of Esther by Marco del Buono, painted around 1455 and housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a cassone panel — the type of decorated chest made as wedding furniture for Florentine households. The Book of Esther, the tale of a Jewish woman who becomes queen of Persia and saves her people from destruction, was among the most popular Old Testament subjects for cassoni because it combined themes of feminine virtue, political cunning, and divine providence suitable for a bride's trousseau. Marco del Buono specialized in these secular decorative commissions, working within a lively Florentine workshop tradition.
Technical Analysis
Tempera on panel with a frieze-like horizontal composition typical of cassone painting. Figures move across architectural and landscape settings in a continuous narrative sequence. The palette is vivid and decorative — reds, greens, gold — with limited concern for atmospheric recession.
