Detail from 'Bathsheba at Her Bath' (or Bathsheba with King David's Letter), an oil painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt (1606-1669) finished in 1654. A depiction that is both sensual and empathetic, it shows a moment from the Old Testament story in which King David sees Bathsheba bathing and, entranced, seduces and impregnates her.1 In order to marry Bathsheba and conceal his sin, David sends her husband into battle and orders his generals to abandon him, leaving him to certain death.