BRAMER, Leonaert
(b. 1596, Delft, d. 1674, Delft)

The Judgment of Solomon

1640s
Oil on wood, 79 x 103 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

This painting, now in poor condition, was inspired by Rubens's Judgment of Solomon, which was known from several versions and from Boetius Bolswert's engraving. The original painting was executed by Rubens in 1615-17 for the Town Hall of Brussels; it burned in 1695.

During the seventeenth century, courtrooms and similar chambers in the town halls of the Netherlands were usually decorated with images of justice, the most common subject having been the Judgment of Solomon. However, Bramer's comparatively small painting was intended for private collectors.




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