Lot 1267 D α

This painting is registered with the RKD in The Hague as no. 266217 and depicts a story from the book of Moses (1, 38). The patriarch Judah had three sons, and when the eldest died, Judah gave his daughter-in-law Tamar to the second son to be his wife. However, Onan refused to have children with her, as he knew they would not be recognised as his, for which God punished him with death. When Judah then also refused to marry Tamar to his youngest son, she decided to trick him into granting her offspring himself by approaching him in the guise of a prostitute. Not knowing it was her, Judah accepted Tamar's services, promising payment of a goat and offering a ring and other personal items as a security deposit.
The present work shows Judah handing his ring to Tamar. She veiled herself to hide her identity, but still had to fear being recognised by her father-in-law. This motif, like many old-testament stories, was introduced to Dutch painting by Rembrandt's tutor Pieter Lastman. Whilst Lastman depicts the figures full-length, Victors chooses a half-length depiction for his work, which intensifies the drama of the scene. Other Rembrandt pupils such as Aert de Gelder and Ferdinand Bol also painted this motif, and the present work largely follows the composition of Bol's version in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (inv. no. 17.3268).