Rembrandt van Rijn - Daniel and King Cyrus in front of the Idol of Bel 1633

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Rembrandt van Rijn - Daniel and King Cyrus in front of the Idol of Bel 1633

Daniel and King Cyrus in front of the Idol of Bel 1633
30x23cm oil, board
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, United States
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes

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From J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles:
When King Cyrus of Persia, seen at the center, asked his confidant Daniel why he does not worship the deity Bel, whose lower half can be seen in the shadows, Daniel replied that he worshipped a living god, not an idol. The king insisted that Bel was a living god and pointed to the offerings of food and wine that Bel consumed every night. Cautiously, Daniel noted that bronze statues do not eat. Cyrus was momentarily bewildered, but the worried faces of the priests in the background confirm that Daniel has exposed their deception. This story of Daniel's dramatic exposure of the king's idol-worship derives from the apocryphal portion of the Book of Daniel.