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Paintings by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Poussin, Fabritius, Koch, Blake, Carolsfeld, Watts, Scheffer, Hugues, Rooke, Burne-Jones, Tissot, Calderon, Chagall and He Qi 

      INTERESTING WEBSITES                                            SCROLL DOWN FOR PAINTINGS 

There was a famine, and the family of a woman called Naomi went to Moab to look for food. While they were there, all the men in the family died, and the women had to fend for themselves. Naomi, being the matriarch of the group, told the young women, including Ruth, to head for home. She would do the same, parting company with them. 

One of them refused to leave her - a young Moabite (and therefore an outsider) called Ruth. She stuck like glue. 'Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried.' 

So the two women set out for Bethlehem, Naomi's home. When they got there, they had very little else besides their wits. Ruth decided she would help glean the barley in the fields, to feed herself and Naomi and to get a store of grain for winter. 

Ruth went to the field of Boaz, a rich relative of Naomi’s. Boaz was an ideal match for any young woman - single, well respected and rich. When he saw Ruth, it was love at first sight. He made a bit of an idiot of himself, trying to help her, getting extra grain for her, protecting her, seeing she was well fed. It was clear to everyone that love was in the air, but how to nudge him into proposing?

The older woman stepped forward, telling Ruth exactly what to do. Ruth had the good sense to listen. She perfumed herself, dressed in her most becoming clothes, and waited at the threshing floor until Boaz had eaten a good meal - a man with a full stomach was always more amenable. 

'When Boaz finally lay down to sleep, Ruth approached him and lay 'at his feet' - 'feet' was often a euphemism for male genitals. When he awoke and saw her, she suggested he 'cover her with his blanket' - again a euphemism, this time for marriage.'

When Boaz finally lay down to sleep, Ruth approached him and lay 'at his feet' - 'feet' was often a euphemism for male genitals. When he awoke and saw her, she suggested he 'cover her with his blanket' - again a euphemism, this time for marriage. Boaz was only too happy to oblige. 

Soon after, they were married, and Ruth had a son, Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David. So Ruth, once the destitute outsider, became the great-grand-mother of a king. Naomi, who had lost her husband and two sons, now held her little grandson close, becoming his nurse. And they lived happily ever after.
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Painter:  Michelangelo

Title:  'Ruth and Obed (left) with Salmon' (right)

Date:  1508-1512

Incident shown:  On the left side of the painting Ruth cradles her son Obed. Her breast sags at the opening of her bodice, and the baby, now full of warm milk, dozes quietly. 
On the right side (despite what Wikipedia says!!) is Salmon, father of Boaz or Booz as Michelangelo calls him. Salmon has the staff, hat and garb of a traveller, reminding the viewer that he accompanied Moses on part of the trek from Egypt, and was commissioned by Moses to be Prince of the Tribe of Judah, from which Jesus would come.

Comment:  The caption on Michelangelo's painting makes it clear that this image is about genealogy. There is a straight line between Salmon, who knew Moses (though only when Moses was very old and Salmon was very young) and was present at the birth of the Israelite nation -- right through to Obed, who would be the grandfather of King David.

Title:  'Boaz pouring six measures of barley into Ruth's veil'

Date:  1650

Incident shown:  Boaz not only instructs his workers to leave grain for Ruth to pick up, but gives her some outright - a considerable amount, in fact. By the end of the first day Ruth has gleaned about two-thirds of a bushel, a considerable amount for one day's gleaning.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  Rembrandt captures Boaz' eager generosity, his will to please, in this lovely drawing. He is not a young man, but he is more than willing to lavish whatever he can on this young woman. She leans gracefully towards him, a slightly bemused look on her face.

Title:  'Ruth Meets Boaz'

Date:  1660

Incident shown:  The servant at the right of the picture bows to show that he has heard Boaz' command, and will obey it. Ruth kneels before Boaz, thanking him for his generosity and for his adherence to chesed, the sense of loyalty and benevolence towards those in need. 

Bible reference: Book of Ruth 2 

Comment:  Poussin was at the height of his powers when he painted 'Ruth meets Boaz'. The Arcadian landscape is orderly, an earthly paradise, and the people within this landscape are calm, hardworking, and completely in harmony with their environment. This is Nature and humanity as it should be, Poussin seems to say

Painter:     I have been unable to find a title or artist for this painting. Can you help?

Title:  

Date:  

Incident shown:  Naomi pushes the younger woman away from her. She is on the point of setting out on her journey home; she wants the young woman to do the same. But Ruth looks at her in silent reproach. In a moment, she will make her famous speech of loyalty.

Bible reference:  Ruth 1:1-18

Comment:  

Title:  'Ruth and Boaz'

Date:  1660

Incident shown:  Boaz, his hand stretched out towards her,  directs Ruth to take grain from his field. She in turn looks gratefully up towards him,

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  Boaz appears as a member of the 17th century landed gentry, tight-fitting breeches and all. His manner towards the young girl gleaning on his land is benevolent. She seems to be wearing an extraordinary padded hat to shield her pale skin from the sun. There is not the slightest attempt to portray the story in its historical setting; the story has been transplanted to the Protestant Netherlands - quite right too, since it is a timeless and universal story.

For information on gleaning, and the sort of work that women did in ancient Israel, see BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: WORK

Title:  'Landscape with Ruth and Boaz'

Date:  1768

Incident shown:  Boaz approaches Ruth and tells her that she is welcome to glean in his fields, and that she may do so in safety. She in turn extends her hand in a grateful gesture of thanks.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment: Koch was primarily a landscape painter, and it is clear that the scene behind the figures is saying something about the story. In this case, the fertile fields and civilized background echo the nobility of Boaz, and the serenity of Ruth. The workers in the field are busy and all, Koch seems to say, is as it should be.

Painter:  William Blake

Title:  Ruth and Naomi

Date:  1795

Incident shown:  It is the moment of parting. Orpah moves away, but Ruth clings tenaciously onto Naomi, whose widespread hands seem to say 'But I can offer you nothing'.

Bible reference:  Ruth 1:1-18

Comment:  This has all the characteristics of a William Blake - the flowing lines, muted colors and mournful humans that he specialized in. The drapery on the women is very beautiful, the lines echoed in the rolling landscape behind. Blake has captured the desolation of their grief, and their seemingly hopeless predicament as well.

Painter:  Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

Title:  'Ruth in Boaz' Field'

Date:  1828

Incident shown:  Boaz is speaking to Ruth, reassuring her and giving her permission to glean in his fields. Ruth listens quietly, her demeanor modest and grateful.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  Carolsfeld was a deeply religious man, and some of his best work is on biblical subjects. There is little to startle the viewer in this painting, but it has a calm order and harmony that reflected the early Victorian interpretation of the story of Ruth and Boaz.

Artist:  William Morris

Title:  'Boaz and Ruth'

Date:  circa 1865

Incident shown:  Boaz and Ruth both hold sheaves of wheat, a hint of their own future fertility. Ruth holds so much wheat that she must gather it up in a fold of her cloak.  Boaz is richly but simply clothes; Ruth has more modest, though lovely, clothing, and is barefoot, a sign of her poverty.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  This is a window in the north aisle of the Sacred Heart Church, North Gosforth. Many of the windows in this church were designed by Edward Burne-Jones, but this one was by William Morris, and was produced by the William Morris Company. It was dedicated to Edward Knollys. One of the interesting things about these windows is that the background details are muted - most stained glass windows have landscapes of buildings in the background. The result of this relative simplicity is that the figures are thrown into greater prominence, dominating the picture.

Painter:  Ary Scheffer

Title:  'Ruth and Naomi'

Date:  unknown (circa 1870's?)

Incident shown:  Naomi points away, directing Ruth to return to her original family, but Ruth covers Naomi's other hand, signaling that she will hold onto the older woman, come what may.

Bible reference:  Ruth 1:1-18

Comment:  Scheffer's paintings are currently out of favor because they are seen as too 'sentimental' and old-fashioned - and in fact they do remind the viewer of Victorian-era holy cards. But look more closely. The colors are muted and harmonious, admirably expressing the grief these two widows feel. The composition is flowing so that the two figures are joined, linked together by ties of loyalty and love. The colors in the background are somber, but both women sear headscarves in brighter colors - the future, Scheffer suggests, will be kinder to them than the past.

Painter:  Merle Hugues

Title:  'Ruth in the Fields'

Date:  1876

Incident shown:  Boaz turns towards Ruth, looking at her as he gives instructions to the servant standing beside him. She turns her head towards the two men - can she hear what is being said? 

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  Many of Merle Hugues' paintings focused on familial love and loyalty, so it was inevitable that the story of Ruth and Naomi would interest him. His Ruth is a beautiful young woman, dressed simply except for the lovely necklace she wears rough her throat. Her figure is voluptuous but her head is modestly covered - there are many messages being sent by this painting. The sheaves of wheat she holds are not only of the present, but of the future - she will be fertile, and Hugues' Ruth could almost double as the Roman goddess Ceres.

Painter:  Thomas Matthews Rooke

Title:  'The Story of Ruth'

Date:  1876

Incident shown:  The triptych shows the three central moments of the story: Ruth's adherance to Naomi; her meeting with Boaz; and the little son who would become the grandfather of King David.

Bible reference:  Ruth 1:1-18Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  Rooke was always overshadowed by Burne-Jones, whose assistant he was - and this triptych shows what a pity that was. The images are lovely, glowing with the golden light of summer and yet able to convey the cloud that hung over the lives of Ruth and Naomi in their perilous predicament. Each of the figures is graceful, rounded, flowing, and there is a sense of stillness and peace over all.

Painter:  Edward Burne-Jones

Title:  'Ruth Meets Boaz'

Date:  1879

Incident shown:  Ruth stops her task for a moment and looks up, responding to the outstretched hand of Baoz. His gesture says it all - he will help her, if she will accept him.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  The delicacy and skill of this drawing is breathtaking. Boaz' figure dominates the left side of the picture, but our eyes are drawn to the figure of Ruth, gracefully bending to pick up a bundle of grain.

Painter:  James Tissot

Title:  'Ruth Gleaning'

Date:  1896

Incident shown:  Ruth as been working steadily, gleaning the strands of grain left over and dropped. But something has caught her attention and distracted her from her work. The viewer presumes it is Boaz, who has arrived at the field he owns.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  This is one of the watercolors produced by Tissot late in his career, when he journeyed to Palestine to make a series of paintings on biblical subjects. The watercolors he produced there are quite different to his earlier, formal paintings. Beautiful as these were, they do have the spontaneity of this painting of Ruth. 

Painter:  Philip Hermogenes Calderon (1833-1898)

Title:  'Ruth and Naomi'

Date:  1920

Incident shown:  The moment for parting has come. Naomi tells her two daughters-in-law to go back to their families, while she returns to Bethlehem. Orpah is ready to go, but what is Ruth doing? Her body language is confused, to say the least, holding on to Naomi with her right hand but seeming to push her away with her left. 

Bible reference:  Ruth 1:1-18

Comment:  Calderon's paintings were never straightforward, and several of them were sexually ambivalent - 'St Elizabeth of Hungary's Great Act of Renunciation' for example, or even perhaps 'Whither'. 

Painter:  Marc Chagall

Title:  'Naomi and her daughters-in-law'

Date:  1960

Incident shown:  The women are bereft, and cling so closely together that it seems they are trying to share their body head. Each of them is beautiful, each an individual. Naomi is at the center, forming the core of the group. Her foot forms the bottom of the V-shaped whole. What is the small animal beside them? A lamb?

Bible reference:  Ruth 1:1-18

Comment:  This is the first in the series Chagall produced on the story of Ruth and Naomi. The recurring colors are brown and glowing red - here brown predominates, making the mood of the picture more somber. The women huddle together, comforting each other in their grief. But behind them, portent of something unexpected, a red sun throbs with life.

Painter:  Marc Chagall

Title:  'Ruth Gleaning'

Date:  1960

Incident shown: It is late summer, and the harvest is being brought in. This is when Ruth goes to glean in the fields of Boaz, a rich landowner.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  Chagall captures the burning heat of a day in late summer, out in the open fields at harvest time. The whole pictures throbs with the heat of the sun - clearly there is no way of escaping it. But Ruth's strong upright figure keeps working, even when others stop to rest, because she must try to gather as much food as she can, to feed the two destitute women during the coming winter. The plight of penniless widows in ancient Israel was precarious, to say the least.

Painter:  Marc Chagall

Title:  'Ruth and Boaz meet'

Date:  1960

Incident shown:  Ruth and Boaz meet face to face for the first time, and it is clearly a joyful moment for both of them.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth 2

Comment:  Look at the expression on Boaz' face. There is joy, but there is something else as well - something like recognition. Is Chagall suggesting that love at first sight - which Boaz is certainly experiencing - is like a sudden awareness that the person in front of us is meant to be The One? His happy amazement shows not only on his face, but in his upflung arms. Ruth's face is more serene, but just as happy, and she echoes his body language with her own upflung arm. But tell me, what does the red orb behind Boaz signify?

Painter:  Marc Chagall

Title:  'Ruth at the feet of Boaz'

Date:  1960

Incident shown:  It is night, a dim landscape, with only the moon bathing the land in its light. Boaz is clearly asleep, cradling his head on his arm, but Ruth is not. Her eyes are open, her breasts visible and the expression on her face shows that she, God bless her, is up to mischief.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth, 2

Comment:  It is easy enough to paint a scene in broad daylight, but here the landscape is shrouded in darkness. Even so, Chagal has brought the moment vividly to life. The shimmering light of the moon dominates - the Moon after all is the Woman Planet in ancient lore, and its circle is duplicated by Ruth's round breasts. Her face is bright with expectation - this is a pivotal moment in her life.

Painter:  Marc Chagall

Title:  'Boaz wakes and sees Ruth at his feet'

Date:  1960

Incident shown:  When Boaz wakes in the morning on the threshing floor, he sees Ruth lying beside him. Following Naomi's advice, she has nudged Boaz into a position where he must propose to her.

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth, 3

Comment:  A red sun throbs in the top right hand corner in this paean to love and sexual joy. Ruth and Boaz wake in the morning, together on the threshing floor during harvest time. They are surrounded by sheaves of grain, signs of prosperity and a plentiful future. Both of them seem to be naked - Chagall has no doubts about what has occurred the night before, even if the Bible demurs on this point. Ruth is a happy woman, and Boaz positively soars.

Painter:  He Qi

Title:  'Ruth and Naomi'

Date:  2001

Incident shown:  This is a capsule of the story, its culmination, and its happy ending. 

Bible reference:  Book of Ruth

Comment:  What a joyful swirl of humanity! The figures twine together so harmoniously you can hardly tell where either one of them begins and ends, even though each has its own distinctive colors. As it should be with a family. Harmony in Nature, with a glowing sun behind and green swaths beneath their feet.

INTERESTING WEBSITES: stories, photographs, reconstructions

Choosing a husband, and marrying him - BIBLE WOMEN: MAJOR EVENTS 

A short version of the story of Ruth - BIBLE PEOPLE: RUTH

Only a young woman, but Ruth makes good choices - BIBLE TOP TEN: YOUNG PEOPLE: RUTH

Two women's loyalty to each other - BIBLE WOMEN: RUTH AND NAOMI

Clothes she wore, houses she lived in - WOMEN IN THE BIBLE: CLOTHING AND HOUSING 

Ruth as one of the great heroines of the Bible - BIBLE TOP TEN HEROINES: RUTH

Gleaning, and the sort of work that women did - BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: WORK 

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Bible Stories: People of the Old Testament - Bible Study Resource: Ruth, Naomi and Boaz