David and Bathsheba

In May 1852 the comte de Morny put his paintings up for auction in Paris. Some six months earlier he had helped his half-brother Louis-Napoléon seize power in a coup. This large panel was in the catalogue as lot 13, but Morny took it out of the sale and gave it to the Louvre straight away.

The story comes from the second book of Samuel. Far back, on a terrace of his palace, King David watches Bathsheba, the wife of his soldier Uriah, and sends a servant to fetch her. Jan Massys gives the whole foreground to her, and she looks less like a woman from scripture than a Venus at her toilet. The Louvre points out a neat pairing in the dogs. On David's side stands a greyhound, the hunting companion of princes, and on hers a small toy spaniel, a lady's lapdog. The date, 1562, is written with his signature on the cornice of the palace portico.