Zerubbabel Before Darius

Zerubbabel Before Darius is an oil on oak panel painting by Nikolaus Knüpfer, now in the Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg (inv.

The work is signed at the foot of the throne on the left hand side.

It illustrates the 'Darius contest', an episode in 1 Esdras (3:4 to 4:63) in which Darius's bodyguards debated what was the strongest thing in existence.

[2] It has previously been mistitled The Story of Artaxerxes, Daniel Defending Susanna from Slander and Allegory of Justice, with Kuznetsov restoring the present title in 1974,[3] though Dutch writers now referring to it as Zerubbabel Asking Darius's Permission to Restore the Temple in Jerusalem, referring to the reward granted to Zerubbabel by Darius for winning the debate (4:42-63).

[4] It first appears in the written record on 10 May 1764, when it was bought by privy counsellor Broggia in Bonn at a posthumous auction of Clemens August of Bavaria's collection.