Esther Led before Ahasuerus

The story belongs to the Persian court. Esther, a young Jewish woman raised by her cousin Mordecai, is led before King Ahasuerus, who will make her his queen. This little canvas is one of three scenes from her life that Veronese painted while he was still working in his home city of Verona. For the setting he reached for something close at hand. Part of the backdrop, as the museum points out, is a glimpse of Piazza dei Signori, the square where the Venetian governors of Verona kept their palaces, a short walk from where the picture hangs now.