“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” ~ James Allen (New Zealand Statesman, Minister of Defense (1912 -1920))The story of king David’s discovery of Bathsehba has always intrigued me. How beautiful and breathtaking Bathsheba must have been bathing in the moonlight when he saw her from his balcony. Yet, there is a twist to the love story, for it is precisely that beauty that made David succumb to his lust and devise a scheme to murder Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) and eventually to the sacrifice of his first son before the birth of Solomon.
I wanted to paint the beauty of Bathsheba, attached with wings of a peacock. Peacocks have long been known to be nature’s most dramatically beautiful birds and their feathers have been gathered as a valuable crop in most countries. Painting Bathsheba with peacock wings symbolize her incredible beauty and path to royalty that drove David to the madness of his lust.
Unveiling of Bathsheba (Egg Tempra, peacock feathers)
Artist: Charmian Toh
Copyright 2005
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