Free downloadable public domain paintings on Old Testament subjects.
Details: This image depicts a scene from the Bible story of David and Bathsheba. In the image, David is lying in bed, with Bathsheba standing over him, looking down at him with a sad expression. The image is in black and white, with a detailed and realistic style. The overall...
This majestic painting was created for a large iconostasis, a screen separating the altar sanctuary from the nave in Orthodox churches. Here, Abraham and Sarah sacrifice a calf to honor their guests, who reveal themselves as angels (Genesis 18:1-10). Christian theologians interpreted the three angels as Old Testament precursors...
Details: Jonah is one of Ryder's most densely painted canvases. He reworked this image so many times that the paint layers are still soft to the touch after more than a century. Ryder chose a Biblical tale of damnation, terror, and salvation that suited his poetic temperament and his manner...
Details: 2 Samuel 5 is a book in the Old Testament of the Bible that describes how David became king over Israel[1][2][3][4]. All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "We are your own flesh and blood"[1][2][3]. In times...
Details: King David playing the harp is a common representation in medieval art[2]. This iconography is often used to symbolize joy and redemption[5], as well as to express prayer and love to God[5]. It also reflects David's role as the composer/performer of the Psalms[2]. In...
Details: King David playing the harp is a common representation in medieval art[2]. This iconography is often used to symbolize joy and redemption[5], as well as to express prayer and love to God[5]. It also reflects David's role as the composer/performer of the Psalms[2]. In...
Details: The Adam and Eve story is found in the Bible's Book of Genesis[1]. God created Adam and then Eve, placing them in the Garden of Eden to care for it[1]. The Devil tempted Eve with the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, which she ate[2]...
Details: The biblical King David strums his harp, performing the music of heaven in concert with five angels. Ornate fictive architecture frames this celestial tableau. Despite its small size, Rubens's painting displays a striking monumentality: this is due to its status as a modello (preparatory study) for a tapestry in...
Details: According to the Bible, David played the harp for King Saul when an "evil spirit from the Lord" was upon him[1][2][3][4][5]. The music was thought to have a therapeutic effect and would help Saul relax and feel better, causing the evil spirit to depart...
Details: King David was the second king of ancient Israel, reigning for 40 years between approximately 1000 BCE and 960 BCE[1][2][3]. He was not born into royalty, but rose to found a dynasty after being a humble shepherd[4]. He is known for his diverse skills as...
Details: Dewing’s painting responds to a biblical story from the book of Tobit. After the elderly Tobit was blinded by sparrow dung, his son, Tobias—accompanied by a dog and the angel Raphael, disguised as a young man—traveled to Media to collect a debt for his father’s...
Details: Charles Sprague Pearce based this work on a passage from the biblical Book of Exodus describing the tenth plague of Egypt, in which God declared his intention to kill every first-born Egyptian child unless Pharaoh freed the Israelites.He instructed Moses to tell the Jews to mark their doors,...
Details: Samson and the Philistines (1863) is a painting by Carl Bloch which was uploaded on November 28th, 2019[4]. The painting depicts the biblical story of Samson and the Philistines[1], and was created in 1863 in Academicism style[1]. It is considered to be one of Bloch's most...
Details: Jacob is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 25[1]. His name, Yaʿaqōv, is derived from ʿaqev meaning 'heel', as he was born grasping the heel of his twin brother Esau[2]. Jacob's life was characterized by deception and manipulation, likely due to his dysfunctional family life[3]...
Details: Jeremiah was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He was active from around 627 BC until shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. He is known for his long and detailed prophecies of judgment and hope, his poems of lamentation, and his visions of the restoration of...
Details: Maffei, who lived and worked in the cities of Vicenza and Padua, was profoundly influenced by the art of Bassano, Tintoretto, and Veronese, his Venetian predecessors. His style is characteristic for its elegance, far removed from realism. This scene from the biblical book of Genesis shows the angel appearing...
Details: In Genesis 40, the Pharoah threw his butler and baker into prison for upsetting him. They both had dreams the first night they were in prison and Joseph interpreted them. The butler dream was as follows: "I saw a vine in front of me, and on the vine were...
Details: Belshazzar's Feast is a major painting by Rembrandt now in the National Gallery, London. The painting is Rembrandt's attempt to establish himself as a painter of large, baroque history paintings. The date of the painting is unknown, but most sources give a date between 1635 and 1638. The story...
Details: The Master of Noah’s Ark was named after an illuminated initial containing that subject now in the Vatican Library. Though he may have worked in Florence, he was unlikely to have been Florentine himself. This rare miniature depicts the story from the apocrypha of Tobias, son of Tobit,...
Details: This set of posters created by Joseph Binder depict various Bible portraits with verses. This image shows Jeremiah and features the quote: "Jeremiah lamented the sorrows and travails of his people. His prayers were heard and their mourning was turned into joy. With God as our helper, no sorrow...
Details: Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph is a 1656 oil painting by Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. It is said to have almost “a sculptural surface with a translucent glaze over paint”. This piece is housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel, Germany. Jacob Blessing the Sons of...
Details: The shepherd boy, resting with his bucket, milk can, and yoke, guides our eye to travelers in the distance. They are Tobias and the archangel Raphael, whose tale is told in some versions of the Christian Bible. Tobias, a young Jewish man, was sent off by his blind father...
Details: This landscape painting of Jacob wrestling with the angel is by Bartholomeus Breenbergh. Breenbergh was a Dutch Golden Age painter of Italian and Italianate landscapes, in Rome and Amsterdam. The subject, Jacob wrestling with the angel, is described in Genesis chapter32 verses 22–32; and also referenced in Hosea...
Details: After their initial meeting, Abraham graciously offered to feed the angels and wash their feet. Following the meal, they announce that his wife Sarah, long past child-bearing age, will soon have a son, fulfilling a promise God had made earlier to Abraham. The artist presents the moment of revelation,...
