Sisamnes was, according to

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

's ''Histories'', book 5, chapter 25, a corrupt royal judge active in the Persian empire during the reign of

Cambyses II of Persia Cambyses II () was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning 530 to 522 BCE. He was the son of and successor to Cyrus the Great (); his mother was Cassandane. His relatively brief reign was marked by his conquests in North Afric ...

. When Cambyses learned that Sisamnes had accepted a bribe to influence a verdict, he had him promptly arrested and sentenced him to be

flayed Flaying is a method of slow and painful torture and/or execution in which skin is removed from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact. Scope A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used a ...

alive. He had the skin of the flayed Sisamnes cut into leather strips. Cambyses then appointed

Otanes Otanes (Old Persian: ''Utāna'', ) is a name given to several figures that appear in the ''Histories'' of Herodotus. One or more of these figures may be the same person. In the ''Histories'' Otanes, son of Pharnaspes He was regarded as a Per ...

, the son of the condemned Sisamnes, as his father's judicial successor. In order to remind Otanes what happens to corrupt judges and not forget the importance of judicial integrity, Cambyses ordered that the new judge's chair be draped in the leather strips made from the skin of the flayed Sisamnes.Georges Martyn, ''Cambyses aan de Vlaamse kust''
in Pro Memorie. Bijdragen tot de rechtsgeschiedenis der Nederlanden, jaargang 14 (2012), afl. 1, pp. 126-136 Otanes later became a

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

. Cambyses warned Otanes to continually keep in mind the source of the leather of the chair upon which he would be seated to deliberate and deliver his judgment.Anuradha Gobin, ''Representing the Criminal Body in the City: Knowledge, Publics and Power in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic'', Department of Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University, Montreal, September 2013, A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The story was also referred to by the first century Latin author

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia''). He worke ...

in his ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' (''The nine books of memorable deeds and sayings'').Valerius Maximus. ''Memorable Doings and Sayings, Volume II: Books 6-9''
Edited and translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey. Loeb Classical Library 493. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000 Whereas in Herodotus' version Sisamnes' skin is cut into strips, Maximus has the skin stretched across the chair.Claes Jacobsz. van der Heck, ''Het oordeel van Cambyses''
, at the Stedelijk Museum, Alkmaar

Interpretation

Vigor Boucquet - The judgement of Cambyses

In the original story Herodotus may have wanted to suggest that King Cambyses had gone mad.Curtis en J. Resnik, ''Images of Justice''
Yale Law Review, 1986-87 Valerius Maximus included the story of King Cambyses in a chapter on the severity of foreigners. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and the Renaissance period, images of judges who were warned, restrained and punished by their kings were common. Cambyses' judgement was included in the ''Speculum Historiale'' of

Vincent of Beauvais Vincent of Beauvais ( or ; ; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his '' Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major work of compilation that was widely read in the Middl ...

(died in 1264). The late 13th-century Flemish writer

Jacob van Maerlant Jacob van Maerlant (c. 1230–40 – c. 1288–1300) was a Flemings, Flemish poet of the 13th century and one of the most important Middle Dutch authors during the Middle Ages. Biography Jacob van Maerlant was born near Bruge ...

liberally translated the Speculum in

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

as ''Spiegel historiael'' (Mirror of History), thus providing the first recounting of the Cambyses story in the Dutch language. The story became increasingly associated with the concept of the impartial administration of justice.Hugo Van der Velden, ''Cambyses for Example: The Origins and Function of an Exemplum Iustitiae in Netherlandish Art of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries'', Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol. 23, No. 1 (1995), pp. 5-62 (58 pages) An inscription on a mid-sixteenth century German medal depicting the Cambyses story reads: "Cambyses maintained the law and administered it justly, as one can perceive here from the punishment." The Renaissance seems to have reinterpreted the Cambyses story as an illustration of the need for a king to exert appropriate control over the judiciary. The sovereigns of that time may have found the story useful to remind the populace of their power or reminding their judges of the punishment that they could receive if they displeased them. That the depiction is particularly widespread in the 16th and 17th centuries is perhaps not coincidental, since the story emphasizes the power of the princes to appoint and depose judges at will. Another interpretation is that the depictions of Cambyses' judgement reflect the then common view that earthly justice is fallible while only divine justice dispensed by the Christian God can provide ultimate fairness.

The judgment of Cambyses in art

The story of the corrupt Sisamnes inspired various Northern artists in the 15th to 17th centuries, including

Gerard David Gerard David ( – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ghera ...

Antoon Claeissens Antoon, Antonius or Anthuenis Claeissens, Claessens, or Claeissins (c.1536 – 18 January 1613) was a Flemish painter. His subjects were historical and allegorical scenes and portraits.Joachim Wtewael, Martin Hermann Faber,

Claes Jacobsz van der Heck Claes Jacobsz van der Heck (Nicolaes Jacobsz van der Heck) (c.1575 in Alkmaar – 1652 in Alkmaar), was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography Claes Jacobsz van der Heck was the son of Jacob Dircksz (c. 1534–1608) and Adriana (died 1591) van d ...

, Jan Tengnagel, Dirck Vellert, and

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

. Visual illustrations of the story first appeared in manuscripts and prints such as

Hans Sebald Beham Sebald Beham (1500–1550) was a German painter and printmaker, mainly known for his very small engravings. Born in Nuremberg, he spent the later part of his career in Frankfurt. He was one of the most important of the "Little Masters", the group ...

's ''The Judgement of Cambyses'' (1542) which was part of the frontispiece of Justinus Göbler's publication ''Der Gerichtlich Prozeß'' (The judicial process). It was later rendered in paintings, sculptures, and stained glass. Many of these artworks were commissioned by the civilian authorities to be hung in the places where in that period justice was dispensed, such as the aldermen's chambers of city halls or courts of justice. These depictions of the Sisamnes story served as examples of justice (in Latin ''exampla iustitiae'') to the judges who could take them as examples or exhortation to perform their task with fairness and severity. Most of the depictions represent the moment at which Otanes takes his father's seat on which the skin of his father is draped while the king admonishes him standing in front of him. Some depictions omit Cambyses and concentrate solely on Otanes as an impartial judge.

was one of the first Northern artists to take Sisamnes' fate as the subject of his diptych '' The Judgement of Cambyses'' which he completed in 1498. It was commissioned by the aldermen of Bruges to be hung in the aldermen's chamber in the

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

City Hall. The left panel of the diptych called ''The Arrest of Sisamnes'' shows In the background Sisamnes accepting a bribe while in the foreground king Cambyses passes judgement on the corrupt judge who is seated in his judge's chair. The right panel called ''The Flaying of Sisamnes'' depicts in graphic detail the judge being flayed alive with the King Cambyses along with members of the court and public looking on. In the background is a smaller scene showing the young judge sitting on his judge's chair which is covered in the skin of his father Sisamnes. David has placed the various scenes in a contemporary setting. The buildings visible in the background of the scenes are contemporary buildings in Bruges and the clothing worn by the figures gathered to witness Sisamnes' judgement is in the style worn by Flemish people at the time. Sisamnes himself is dressed in the red robe which was the official attire of judges in the period. By locating the scene in contemporary Flanders, David reinforced the relevance of the ancient story to the early modern viewer. Isaac Isaacsz - The Judgement of Cambyses

Isaac Isaacsz - The Judgement of Cambyses

The Bruges painter Antoon Claeissens took the left panel of David's diptych as the inspiration of his own rendering of ''The Judgment of Cambyses'' (second half of 16th century,

Groeningemuseum The Groeningemuseum is a municipal museum in Bruges, Belgium, built on the site of the medieval Eekhout Abbey. It houses a collection of Flemish and Belgian painting covering six centuries, from Jan van Eyck to Marcel Broodthaers. The museu ...

, Bruges) as he concentrates on the depiction of the arrest of the corrupt judge while also showing the passing of the bribe to the judge in the background. This work formerly also hung in the City Hall of Bruges. The many figures appearing together with the king in the picture appear to be portraits of real persons, possibly members of the city council of Bruges.Antoon Claeissens (Bruges c. 1536-1613), ''The Judgement of Cambyses: an allegorical group portrait, probably of the City Councillors''
at Christie's auction of 25 Apr 2001 lot 23 The Dutch publication ''Thronus Justitiae'' first published in 1606 contains 13 plates of justice scenes after designs by Joachim Wtewael. One depicts the ''Judgment of Cambyses''. Martin Hermann Faber painted a version for the city hall of Emden in 1617 and

did the same for the city hall of Alkmaar in 1620. Both works are similar and depict in the foreground the installation of Otanes and in the background the execution of Sisamnes. Another Dutch painter, Jan Tengnagel, created in 1619 a ''Judgment of Cambyses'' for the Amsterdam city hall (now in a private collection in The Hague) in which he reduced the number of figures to a minimum thus emphasizing the core interaction between the king and the newly appointed judge. Rubens painted his version of the story after receiving a commission by the Brussels Council for the large sum of 3000 florins. Rubens completed the work between 1622 and 1626 after which it was hung in the court room of the

Brussels Town Hall The Town Hall (, ; , ) of the City of Brussels is a landmark building and the seat of that municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is located on the south side of the Grand-Place, Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square), opposite the Goth ...

. It was destroyed during the infamous

bombardment of Brussels During the Nine Years' War, the French Royal Army carried out a bombardment of Brussels from August 13–15, 1695. Led by King Louis XIV and the François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, Duke of Villeroi, French forces bombarded the city in an a ...

by French troops from 13 to 15 August 1695. Several copies of the work have been preserved. Rubens shows the moment in which the son sits down on the judge's seat above which his father's skin hangs as a canopy.Elizabeth McGrath, ''Rubens Subjects from History'', Harvey Miller Publishers, 1997, p. 40 Rubens clearly follows the iconographic tradition of the story but gave it a Baroque touch. King Cambyses is shown in a dynamic pose holding his scepter and with his hand on his sword, clearly admonishing the new judge who bows his head in submission. At the feet of the king is a dog barking at Otanes. On the right of the king are a number of soldiers and bearded old men, possibly the king's counselors, whose presence further bolsters the authority of the just king. On the left a man, a woman and two children witnessing the scene are prostrating themselves in reverence for the king. The Dutch painter Isaac Isaacsz, who had worked in Antwerp, painted his own ''Judgment of Cambyses'' for the

Harderwijk Harderwijk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city of the Netherlands. It is served by the Harderwijk railway station. Its population centres are Harderwijk and Hierden. Harderwijk is on the western boundary of the Veluwe. The south ...

city hall (still ''in situ'') which is clearly influenced by Rubens' effort. The Flemish painter Vigor Boucquet was commissioned to paint a ''Judgment of Cambyses'' by the city magistrate of Nieuwpoort as a gift to the city in 1671. Due to its large dimensions, the painting (now kept in the Church of Our Lady in Nieuwpoort) must have made an overwhelming impression in the magistrates' court where it was hung originally. In his composition, Boucquet focuses on the scene where Cambyses shows the young judge to his chair with his sceptre. The chair is draped in his father's skin with the face of the father clearly recognisable. In the background we can see the flaying of the corrupt judge. At the far left of the composition is a statue of the blindfolded Justice with scales and sword, which emphasizes the role of the painting as an ''exemplum iustitiae''.

Gallery

File: Het oordeel van Cambyses, BK-14517.jpg, ''The Judgment of Cambyses''. Stained glass, by Dirck Vellert, 1542 File:Claes Jacobsz. van der Heck - The judgment of Cambyses.jpg, ''The Judgment of Cambyses'' by Claes Jacobsz van der Heck, 1620. Otanes takes his place on the seat with his father's skin hanging over the backrest. In front of him stands Cambyses. In the background, the flaying of Sisamnes is depicted. File: Cambyses Commanding the Flaying of Judge Sisamnes LACMA M.88.91.354g.jpg, ''Cambyses commanding the flaying of judge Sisamnes'', print engraved by Willem Isaacsz. van Swanenburg after design of Joachim Wtewael, 1607. Otanes is sitting down in the judge's chair draped in the skin of his father.

References

External links

* {{Commons-inline, The Judgement of Cambyses in art, Sisamnes People executed by flaying People executed by the Achaemenid Empire 6th-century BC executions Achaemenid officials Year of birth unknown Corruption in Asia Judges