Born for Such a Time as This

Esther’s uncle Mordecai said, “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther is a female counterpart of Joseph in Egypt—she also was favored by a king and later used her influence to save her people from the intrigues of Haman. In this painting, I wanted to show the “faith preceding the miracle” moment for Esther—not when she was already a Queen, but before, when all the fair young girls were gathered to the palace.