The artwork titled “From the terrace of his palace David sees bathing Bathsheba (II Samuel, XI, 2-3),” created by Marc Chagall circa 1956 in France, is an etching on paper measuring 29 x 25.3 cm. It belongs to the Naïve Art (Primitivism) movement and falls under the genre of religious painting. This particular work is part of the series “Etchings for the Bible (1930-1939; 1952-1956).”
In the etching, King David is depicted observing Bathsheba bathing from the terrace of his palace. David is shown on the left, elevated on a fortified structure, peering down at Bathsheba, who stands exposed in the scene’s lower right corner. The background illustrates a modest townscape under a textured sky, embodying Chagall’s characteristic style of blending biblical narrative with expressive, naively-rendered forms and figures. The intricacy of the etching medium is evident in the delicate, yet deliberate strokes that bring depth and emotion to this intimate biblical moment.
