Sébastien Bourdon (Montpellier 1616-1671 Paris)

The subject is taken from I Samual: V-VI. The composition derives from Poussin's interpretation of the subject, La Peste d'Asdod (Paris, Musée du Louvre), a work executed in Rome circa 1630 and brought to France some thirty years later for the Duc de Richelieu, who subsequently ceded it to Louis XIV. As noted by Geraldine Fowle (op. cit., pp. 40-1), Bourdon made use of Jean Baron's engraving in reverse of Poussin's composition. This painting can be dated stylistically to circa 1660.