Follower Of Frans Francken II (antwerp, 1581 -1642), Banquet Of Baldassare

Follower of Frans Francken II (Antwerp, 1581 -1642)

Banquet of Baldassare

Oil on canvas, cm 67x 89

With frame, cm 77 x 99

With the reconstruction of the gigantic tower of Babel, the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II exceeded the display of human pride considered acceptable at the time. When his son Baltassar took up the dubious morality, divine punishment was not slow to strike. Organized a sumptuous banquet once succeeded to his father (Dan. 5, 1-5, 25-8), Baltassar decided to show in an impetus of vanity all the sacred vessels raided by Nebuchadnezzar in the Temple of Jerusalem. Because their use at a common table was sacrilege, a sudden thunder blocked the bystanders and a hand peering out of a cloud composed the inscription in Hebrew characters "mene mene tekel u-parsin". Baltassar commanded that the wise men of the kingdom should be consulted immediately, but in the face of their ignorance, at the suggestion of his mother, he summoned the exile Daniel, then still a child. As a suspect, Daniel correctly interpreted the message by suggesting to the king, whose days had now been judged and weighed by the divine, that his dominion would be near the end and at a partition. That same night Baltassar died and shortly after Babylon was conquered by Darius, king of the Medes and Persians.