Esther's faint had not often been depicted in art before Tintoretto, although for example it is shown in the series of cassone scenes of the Life of Esther by Sandro Botticelli, from the 1470s. Esther was regarded in Catholic theology as a typological forerunner of the Virgin Mary; among other reasons,Baskins gives a long account, partly disputed here. because both acted as intercessors,Bergsma, John, Pitre, Brant, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, Ignatius Press, 2018, , 9781642290486 Google Books and because Esther being allowed an exception to the strict Persian law on uninvited entry to the king's presence was seen as paralleling the unique Immaculate Conception of Mary. Contemporary viewers would probably have recognised a similarity between the faint and the motif of the Swoon of the Virgin, which was very common in depictions of the Crucifixion of Jesus.Whitaker and Clayton, 224 The fainting became a much more popular subject in the Baroque painting of the following century, with examples including the Esther Before Ahasuerus by Artemisia Gentileschi.
