# The Banishment of Vashti [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [VERONESE, Paolo]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 500 x 370 cm ## Commentary The picture shows one of the three large paintings on the ceiling of the nave of the church of San Sebastiano: Esther Crowned by Ahasuerus \(rectangular, in the centre\), The Triumph of Mordecai \(oval\), and The Banishment of Vashti \(oval\). The interpretation of this pictorial subject is controversial. Veronese's biographer Carlo Ridolfi and subsequent authors identified the picture as Esther confronting Ahasuerus, but a different interpretation is now more widely accepted. Only when the Persian king Ahasuerus had repudiated his disobedient wife Vashti did he choose Esther as his wife. This scene is the moment of repudiation. Relieved of her crown, Vashti leaves the royal palace with her retinue. ## Related artworks - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Aged Oriental with a Young Woman]() - [Allegory of Love, I: Infidelity]() - [Allegory of Love, III: Respect]() - [Allegory of Love, IV: Happy Union]() - [Allegory of Wisdom and Strength]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()