De afgoderij van Jerobeam

Executed in a detailed, narrative style, the artist fills the canvas with numerous expressive faces, each reacting to the supernatural event. Gold‑toned garments and the shimmering calf contrast with the pallor of the king’s withered hand, creating a chiaroscuro effect that heightens the tension between earthly power and divine judgment.

Created by the Dutch painter De Roore, the piece was noted in its time for its capacity to render complex biblical stories in a single, comprehensible tableau. It entered the Rijksmuseum collection as part of a broader acquisition of religious genre paintings, where it remains a reference point for the period’s visual theology.

The painting belongs to a tradition of 17th‑century Dutch art that used biblical narratives to comment on contemporary concerns about religious conformity and authority. By choosing a relatively obscure episode, De Roore invites viewers to reflect on the consequences of political manipulation of worship, a theme resonant in a society still negotiating its own confessional identities.