The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba

Claude Gellée (Le Lorrain) was a France painter associated with the Baroque movement.

Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba is an oil painting by Claude Lorrain, in the National Gallery, London, signed and dated 1648. The large oil-on-canvas painting was commissioned by Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon, general of the Papal army, together with Claude's Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca, also now in the National Gallery. It depicts the departure of the Queen of Sheba to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem, described in the tenth chapter of the First Book of Kings. A more usual subject would be their meeting; this is one of many harbour scenes painted by Claude. The Queen is departing from a city with classical buildings, with the early morning Sun lighting the sea, as vessels are loaded.