David and Abigail

Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen painted David and Abigail in 1509 in Amsterdam, where he was the leading painter. The Old Testament subject of Abigail's diplomatic intervention to save her household from David's wrath was popular in Northern European art. Cornelisz's narrative style combines Netherlandish precision with a lively approach to storytelling. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique.

Oil on panel with vivid coloring and detailed costume rendering. The narrative scene is staged with characteristic Northern European attention to landscape setting and the expressive interaction of the figures.