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, also 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 an unlikely story, also king Ahasuerus allowed 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 lives 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, gLook out! The bear is going to kill you soon. Run from there.h But he said,h I am here, I do not run and I am not afraid. This is my homeland where my family and relatives live.h
I knew soon that he is the President of that country and also 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 and she put on her royal apparel, and met the king to make supplication for Jews to him in the inner court of the kingfs house. I painted her so beautifully.
Because that is a point all 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