Babylonian Exile of Jews in Babylonia, The Babylonian Captivity

This history painting, romantic school from a french painter circa 1830, depicts the babylonian exile topic, also called Babylonia Captivity.

It’s about the conquest of ancient Judaea in 597 B.C by King Nebuchadnezzar II who forced the Jewish people into exile.

Mainly referring to the elegy of psalm 137, the 19th century has especially evoked through painting this historical subject.

Into most of paintings we can find too as here the display of grieving Jews sitting around a willow tree with a lyre and a river in the background. 

This painting comes very probably from the hand of a french romantic painter.

The dramatic manner, the intensity of colors by instance evoke several romantic painter as Eugène Deveria. The great Delacroix has even painted a Babylonian Captivity. Our artwork shares with Delacroix corpus a specific manner in the composition (a shape of pyramid almost outside the frame and female faces quite near of those painted by Delacroix by instance).

We can observe some smaller retouching and slight traces of age and use but this small and fine painting is so mastered and nicely framed.