''The Judgement of Solomon'' is an

oil on panel A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...

painting by

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

painter

Frans Floris Frans Floris, Frans Floris the Elder or Frans Floris de Vriendt (17 April 15191 October 1570) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print artist and tapestry designer. He is mainly known for his history paintings, allegorical scenes and portraits.< ...

. Painted right after Floris' return from his trip to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, the painting depicts a biblical scene, the

Judgment of Solomon The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two ...

. In that story, King Solomon of Israel ruled between two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting that the baby be cut in two, with each woman to receive half. With this strategy, Solomon was able to determine the non-mother as the woman who backed this proposal (saying, ''It shall be neither mine nor thine; divide it''), while the actual mother begged that the sword be sheathed and the child committed to the care of her rival (''O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!'')

Painting

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

there was a similar work by Jan Massijs, but it was destroyed during one of the Spanish Furies, the one which devastated the city of Antwerp in 1576. Afterwards, Jan van Asseliers donated ''The Judgment of Solomon'' by Frans Floris as a replacement to Antwerp's City Hall (whose design is generally attributed to Floris' brother,

Cornelis Floris Cornelis Floris or Cornelis (II) Floris De Vriendt (c. 1514 – 20 October 1575) was a Flemish sculptor, architect, draughtsman, medallist and designer of prints and luxury. He operated a large workshop in Antwerp from which he worked on many ...

). The painting is one of the earliest works by Floris after his return from

. This is reflected in the attention to details and clothing. The story, from the Old Testament, is moved to

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

. Typical of Floris' early work is the overcrowded composition with figures that are rather stiffly next to each other in the foreground without any openings to the depth. They have an unmoved facial expression with no individual characteristics. Solomon's palace is in the form of a colonnaded hall overlooking ancient ruins. The figures were inspired by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

, with whom Frans Floris became acquainted in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The painter tried to reproduce the ancient architecture and clothing as accurately as possible on the basis of his studies from Italian albums of drawings. From thence the dating of the painting to 1545-1550 (ca. 1547), when the artist had just returned from Rome. The painting is currently housed at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

References

External links

The paintings at the Netherlands Institute for Art HistoryThe painting at the Flemish Art CollectionThe Judgement of Solomon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Judgement of Solomon, The 1554 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp Paintings by Frans Floris Dogs in art Paintings of the Judgement of Solomon