GIORGIONE
(b. 1477, Castelfranco, d. 1510, Venezia)

The Judgment of Solomon

c. 1505
Oil on wood, 89 x 72 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Giorgione depicted the celebrated story of Solomon's wisdom in one of two pendant paintings. The great king has declared that the living child be - literary - divided between the women claiming him. The babe's mother will cede the child, rather than see him die.

An elusive figure, Giorgione made odd works: here the landscape occupies more than half the panel.