The Meeting of David and Abigail

The people in this large canvas are not really David and Abigail. They are a Dordrecht family, Lowijs Molenschot and his wife Janneken, who had Cuyp paint them in the costume of a Bible story. It is the moment from the first book of Samuel when Abigail rides out with gifts to stop the future king David from taking revenge on her household. Dutch families of means liked this kind of picture, a portrait historié, where living sitters take on the roles of scripture and hang in the best room of the house. This one is recorded in the great back room of the Molenschot home. Cuyp is remembered for glowing landscapes and cattle, so a crowded figure scene like this is a rarity from his hand. The steep hills rising behind the group are not invented. He had sketched country like that a few years earlier on a trip up the Rhine toward Nijmegen.