The Judgment of Solomon
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 17 5/16 x 20 3/16 in. (44 x 51.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.7016
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving captures the dramatic biblical tale of King Solomon’s judgment, in which the wise ruler threatens to divide a living child between two women claiming to be its mother. One woman’s desperate plea reveals her true identity, while the other’s indifference exposes the impostor. Created between 1595 and 1633, the print translates a dynamic composition by Peter Paul Rubens into the precise lines of engraving by Boetius Adams Bolswert, allowing a wide audience to experience the Flemish master’s theatrical storytelling. Rubens, the leading figure of the Northern Baroque, favored emotio...