Judah and Tamar

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Judah and Tamar

Artist Pieter Lastman (Dutch, 1583-1633)

Dateabout 1615-1620

DimensionsPaper: 8 5/8 x 7 in. (21.9 x 17.8 cm)

MediumEtching

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineFrederick B. and Kate L. Shoemaker Fund

Object number

1975.48

Not on View

Label TextAs written in the Book of Genesis, Tamar, a young widow disguised as a prostitute and covered with a veil, seduces Judah, the father of her two deceased husbands, in order to secure an heir for the family (her husbands had both died before she bore them children). She negotiates payment of a goat, but retains Judah’s staff as security. She later used the staff as proof of Judah’s paternity when she gave birth to twins, Pharez and Zerah. Pharez was an ancestor to King David. Pieter Lastman was teacher to both Rembrandt and Jan Lievens (works by both appear in this exhibition). Lastman studied painting in Italy in the early 1600s, and was particularly influenced by the German artist Adam Elsheimer (1578–1610). Elsheimer’s work is represented in this exhibition by the prints of Hendrick Goudt.Exhibition HistoryTMA The Painter Was a Printmaker: June 23 - Sept. 9, 1984. TMA, The Dramatic Image: Baroque Prints of the 17th Century, February 25 - July 31, 2011.