Esther enters the biblical story as someone acted upon—taken to the palace, instructed what to say, told what to wear and when. Only later does she become the one who acts.
Artists have long traced this arc. Viewed individually, each of these paintings captures a snapshot of Esther. Placed in narrative order, the images allow the Book of Esther to unfold visually, and Esther’s development comes into focus.
The paintings make visible a central claim of the Megillah: Esther’s greatness lies in seizing control of her destiny—and, through it, the destiny of the entire Jewish people.
In Edwin Long’s 1878 painting, Esther is being prepared to enter the royal palace. The Persian king Ahasuerus has gathered young women, hoping to choose a queen. Long shows Esther draped in finery, attended on all sides. She is groomed for someone else’s purposes. Her role is to be chosen, not to choose.
That pattern continues in Salvador Dali’s 1964 lithograph Assuerus Adamavit Esther, “Ahasuerus loved Esther.” Esther exists within the king’s imagination, framed by his desire. She is now central to the frame, but agency still lies with the king.
The turning point comes in Aert de Gelder’s 1685 painting of Esther being confronted by her uncle Mordechai. Mordechai has learned of a royal decree ordering the destruction of the Jewish people, and he urges her to intervene. She hesitates. Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein (1933–2015) argues that this hesitation should not be read as fear but as moral and political calculation. Through their exchange with Mordechai, Esther begins to see her position differently. She begins to consider the possibility that her position as queen gives her influence—and that her influence carries responsibility.
From this point forward, the visual language alters. In John Everett Millais’ 1865 painting, Esther approaches the king without being summoned, an act punishable by death. She stands upright and composed.
In Ernest Normand’s Esther Denouncing Haman, she occupies the center of the composition, publicly identifying Haman as the architect of the plot against the Jews. Light falls on her, and Haman recedes. She is no longer shaped by events; she now shapes them.
Mordechai’s words crystallize his niece’s transformation: “Who knows if it was for a time like this that you reached a position of royalty?” He reframes her complex circumstance—an unwilling queen in a foreign court—as a calling.
Esther’s world does not change overnight. What changes is her perspective. Once she sees that her role as queen is not simply a refuge but a responsibility, she acts—and history begins to turn.
Ilana Epstein is Rebbetzin of Mizrachi Melbourne, serving alongside her husband, Rabbi Daniel Epstein, Rabbi of the community. Prior to moving to Australia, they served at Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London, previously the Cockfosters and North Southgate community, following seventeen years living and working in Israel.
Ilana is a writer and programme developer with experience in Jewish leadership and Holocaust education. She has led educational delegations to Poland with the Holocaust Educational Trust and March of the Living UK since 2015. In 2024, she was commissioned to write historical material for the adaptation of The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
Ilana has served as Director of Educational Projects at Jewish Futures and previously as an educator for the United Synagogue. She devised and leads a development programme for the wives of European rabbis on behalf of the Conference of European Rabbis, and was selected as an inaugural Sacks Scholar in 2023.
