No 71 Esther (She is living in their heart still now)☆
Esther is the oddest one in all of the Bible stories.
There is no Word, no prayer even no name of God. And I was perplexed by a point that is a sort of Judaic revenge story in the Achaemenid Empire of ancient Persia.
Because they were captives of Babylon at that time, the Achaemenid Empire also took on appeasement for them.
Therefore, I thought the story of Haman, who is one of the high-ranking kingdom officials who sought to destroy all the Jews, is unlikely, also King Ahasuerus allowed the Jews to kill the people of Persia so easily, which is a more unlikely story to me.
Therefore, this story made no motive for me to paint her until that day, 24 February 2022.
However, it happened that day, when a northern big bear attacked a puppy who lived in the southern rich wheat field.
Neighbors got a big surprise. Because they fed the big bear for a long time.
Then when they saw that they shouted to him, “Look out! The bear is going to kill you soon. Run from there.” But he said,” I am here, I do not run and I am not afraid. This is my homeland where my family and relatives live.”
I knew soon that he is the President of that country and also a Jew. And I accepted that an unlikely story will have happened in long time history indeed.
The point that moved me was that Esther is living in his heart still now, and he did quickly fight as she did.
I thought that now and in the old days, Jew was and is Jew that is no different. So, I made up my mind to paint her willingly.
This painting represents that Esther, who had heard the words of Mordecai, put on her royal apparel, and met the king to make supplication for the Jews to him in the inner court of the king’s house. I painted her so beautifully.
Because that is the reason why she was there. Now, then I ask you where is God in this story?
My answer is God does not inhabit the beautiful itself, but in yourself, that feels it. Would you agree with me?
June 2022 Oil 910mm×1167mm
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