David's Dying Charge to Solomon

This 1643 David's Dying Charge to Solomon at the National Gallery of Ireland depicts the biblical king's deathbed instruction to his son and successor—a charged political subject for the Dutch Republic, which frequently engaged with Old Testament kingship narratives as mirrors for contemporary governance. David charges Solomon to build the Temple and to deal justly with his supporters and enemies—a model of political wisdom transmitted through death. Bol's treatment of the subject in 1643 reflects both his continued engagement with Rembrandtesque Old Testament narrative after leaving the studio and his own growing ambitions as a painter of history subjects alongside portraits.

The deathbed scene is dramatically lit in the Rembrandtesque manner, the dying king and attentive Solomon rendered with the warm chiaroscuro and bold composition Bol developed during his apprenticeship.