Bathsheba at Her Bath

Sebastiano Ricci's Bathsheba at Her Bath of around 1724 depicts the biblical episode from 2 Samuel in which King David sees Bathsheba bathing and sends for her, using the story to create an elaborate Baroque nude with the warm, Venetian-inflected coloring that characterized all Ricci's mature work. Ricci was the primary transmitter of the Veronese and Tiepolo decorative tradition to northern Europe, spending significant periods in England, Vienna, and Paris. His treatment of the Bathsheba subject combines theatrical compositional invention with the sensuous flesh painting of his Venetian formation.

Ricci renders the biblical nude with the light, luminous palette and graceful composition that anticipated the Rococo. The warm flesh tones and the elegant arrangement of the bathing scene demonstrate his decorative mastery and his influence on younger Venetian painters.