Abigail
ArtistCircle of
Francisco de Zurbarán
(Spanish, 1598 – 1664)
Dateca. 1650
CultureSpanish
MediumOil on canvas
ClassificationPaintings
ProvenanceSaid to have come from the collection of Francisco Arjona Herrera (“Cúchares” or “Curro Cúchares” (1818–1868)), Madrid. By 1908, Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (1870–1945), Madrid; presumably by gift after 1913 to Rita de Acosta Lydig (1875–1929), New York; (Erich Galleries, New York); John Ringling (1866–1936), Sarasota, Florida; bequest in 1936 to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN342
The Old Testament heroine Abigail became the wife of David after feeding him and his troops during his flight from King Saul. Together, Abigail and David were considered ancestors of Christ, and for this reason she is shown being led by the vision of a chalice. As in Rubens's Eucharist Series, various Old Testament characters are seen as prefigurations of Christian concepts, and the bread Abigail holds is a harbinger of the Eucharistic host.
On View
Not on viewFrame: 80 3/8 × 51 1/8 in. (204.2 × 129.9 cm)
Velázquez (Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez)
c. 1628–29, reworked c. 1631
Object/Object