Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller

King Solomon Rubens Paint Oil on copper 17th Century Old master Flemish Art

1620-1680

About the Item

Circle of Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640) The Judgement of King Solomon Oil on copper (41 x 49 cm. - with ebonised and gilded wooden frame 58 x 66 cm.) The proposed painting, executed in oil on copper, depicts the biblical episode known as the 'Judgement of King Solomon' and is taken from the Book of Kings, in the Old Testament (I Kings, 3, 16-28). The work is derived from the painting in the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen depicting the 'Judgement of Solomon', which was largely created by Rubens' workshop with some intervention by the master. The iconography of the painting was certainly made popular by the print made by the Dutch engraver Boetius Adams Bolswert (Bolsward, c. 1585 - Antwerp, 1633) now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum. The extraordinary critical and illustrative success of the work is certain, of which several replicas and copies exist, preserved in museums and private collections: Delft, Rouen and Coutrai, Liechtenstein in Vaduz and in Seville Cathedral. The prototype for the original Copenhagen painting by Rubens, dated 1616 and now destroyed, was, according to historical sources, located in the courtroom of Brussels City Hall, which was destroyed by bombing in the late 17th century. The canvas is the work of a Flemish painter, active in the 17th century, who certainly comes close to the manner of Rubens, but who departs from the master in a more impetuous style, with thick impasto brushstrokes, strong contrasts of light and shade and rather intense colouring. This manner is very reminiscent of the Flemish painter Jacob Jordaens, who was Rubens' assistant at the beginning of his career. The subject of the painting sees the great King Solomon, known as one of the wisest politicians who ever lived, called into question by two prostitutes, to determine who among them held the right: living in the same house and having both given birth at the same time, the two women claimed maternity of the living infant, and accused each other of having given birth to the other, already dead. King Solomon's wisdom and sense of justice led him to order, so as not to wrong either woman, that the live baby be divided in two, so that each of the women could have one half. This order provoked the reaction of one of his mothers, who refused the verdict, begging that rather the child be given alive and whole to the other, saving his life. Through this reaction, Solomon realised which of the two was the true mother. [1] The Judgment of Solomon, Boetius Adams Bolswert, After Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, 1595-1633 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The work is sold complete with a beautiful frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card. We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. It is also possible to see the painting in the gallery by Antichità Castelbarco SRLS in Riva del Garda, we will be happy to welcome you to show you our collection of works. Please contact us, without obligation, for any additional information.
  • Creation Year:
    1620-1680
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 22.84 in (58 cm)Width: 25.99 in (66 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Circle Of:
    Circle of Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640) (1680 - 1740)
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Riva del Garda, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU988112620292
More From This SellerView All
  • Battle Horsemen Landscape Graziani Paint Oil on canvas 17th Century Old master
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Francesco Graziani, known as Ciccio Napoletano (active in Naples and Rome in the second half of the 17th century) Battle with clash of horsemen Oil on canvas 95 x 130 cm In period ...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Storm See Water Landscape Vernet 18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Claude-Joseph Vernet (Avignon, 1714 - Paris, 1789) workshop of The Storm on the Lighthouse 1750/60 Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 48 x 67 cm / framed 77 x 93 cm We share a highly pleasing work, a splendid marine executed by a talented painter from the workshop of the Frenchman Claude-Joseph Vernet, depicting a coastal view set in a Mediterranean port with the sea still stormy. The focal point of the composition is the large lighthouse at the entrance to the port, which, due to the power of the sea, was unable to bring to safety the ship that had crashed against the rocks, while the silhouette of a second sailing ship can be glimpsed in the distance. The canvas shows in full the pictorial, chromatic and narrative characteristics of the great master Vernet's coastal landscapes, characterised by the inimitable atmospheric conditions always hovering between darkness and light, storm and calm, instilling the observer with contrasting feelings, made even more intense by a palette of vibrant and highly contrasting colours. A similar composition, from which our author must necessarily have drawn, also attributed to the workshop of Claude Joseph Vernet is to be found in France, in Nantes, at the Musée d'Arts.  The effects of the light create a visual drama in the contrast between the darkness of the rain-laden storm clouds and the gash of clear sky that is opening up, pierced by the timid rays of light. The real magic of the painting is the painter's highly personal use of light and colour, with chiaroscuro effects that accentuate its three-dimensionality and movement.
 The compositional typology, as well as the quality of execution and attention to detail we are dealing with, are typical elements of the 'prototypes' conceived by the master, later taken up around the middle of the 18th century by his best pupils. Similar versions can be found in the most important international museums and private collections, belonging to a large series of paintings that the master created, together with his collaborators, during his stay in Italy. Vernet lived in Rome for twenty years (1734 - 1753), becoming particularly popular with English aristocrats who stopped there on their Grand Tour. International fame followed him from Rome to France, and to his English and French clients he added German princes...
    Category

    18th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Coastal Landscape See Paint Lacroix de Marseille Oil on canvas 18th Century Art
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Coastal view at sunset with fishermen and boats Atelier of Charles François Grenier De Lacroix, called de Marseille (Marseille 1700 - Berlin 1782) Oil on canvas 50 x 62 cm. - in fra...
    Category

    18th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Children Landscape Jeaurat Paint Oil on canvas 18th Century Old master French
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Étienne Jeaurat (Vermenton 1699 - Versailles 1789) Game of children intent on harvesting grain (Allegory of Summer) Mid-18th century Oil on canvas 97 x 129 cm - Framed cm. 112 x 14...
    Category

    18th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Van Uden Landscape Paint Oil on table 17th Century Flemish school Old master Art
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Lucas Van Uden (Antwerp 1595 - Antwerp 1673) Signed lower right: (Lucas v. ud...) Hillside landscape with pond oil on wood panel 34 x 54 cm, with frame 51 x 71 cm. Work published ...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Christ St. Peter De Matteis Paint Oil on canvas 17/18 Century Old master Italy
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Paolo De Matteis (Naples, 1662 - Naples, 1728) attributed to Christ Delivering the Keys to St. Peter (Handing over the Keys) Oil on canvas 88 x 138 cm./ Framed 98 x 149 cm. The pro...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

You May Also Like
  • Grand 19th Century English Marine Painting in Stunning Light
    By John Wilson Ewbank
    Located in London, GB
    John Wilson Ewbank (1799 - 1847) Shipping in the Harbour, South Shields Oil on canvas 39.5 x 58 inches unframed 47.75 x 66.5 inches framed Provenance: Christie's October 2002; Lot 11. Fine Art Society; Private Collection This marvellous up to scale Ewbank is full of light and warmth and almost certainly his greatest work of the sort rarely - if ever - seen on the market. John W. Ewbank (4 May 1799–28 November 1847), was an English-born landscape and marine painter largely operational from Scotland. The Humber river is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. Life Ewbank was born at Darlington on 4 May 1799, the son of Michael Ewbank, an innkeeper. He was adopted as a child by a wealthy uncle who lived at Wycliffe, on the banks of the River Tees, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Intended for the Roman Catholic priesthood, he was sent to Ushaw College, from which he absconded. In 1813 Ewbank was apprenticed to Thomas Coulson, an ornamental painter in Newcastle. In around 1816 he moved with Coulson to Edinburgh, where he had some lessons with Alexander Nasmyth. He found work both as a painter and a teacher. He was nominated in 1830 one of the foundation members of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1833 he is listed as living at 7 Union Street on the eastern fringe of the New Town in Edinburgh. Works His sketches from nature were especially admired, and a series of 51 drawings of Edinburgh by him were engraved by W. H. Lizars for James Browne's Picturesque Views of Edinburgh (1825). He also made a reputation with cabinet pictures of banks of rivers, coast scenes, and marine subjects. As an illustrator he illustrated some early editions of Scott's Waverley Novels and one edition of Gilbert White...
    Category

    19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Important 18th Century Royal Academy Old Master Oil Painting of Georgian London
    Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
    ‘St. James’ Day’ by Richard Morton Paye (1750-1820). This very large and important 18th century oil on canvas depicts a diverse crowd of Londoners at an oyster stand on a summer’s ev...
    Category

    1780s Old Masters Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Allegory of Abundance
    Located in New York, NY
    Painted in collaboration with Hendrick van Balen (Antwerp, 1575 – 1632). Provenance: Private Collection, Uruguay, since the 1930s. The eldest son of Jan Br...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Copper

  • A Wolf
    Located in New York, NY
    Provenance: The Marchesi Strozzi, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence Sale, Christie’s, London, May 20, 1993, lot 315, as by Carl Borromaus Andreas Ruthart...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Animal Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Canvas, Oil

  • River Landscape with a Windmill and Chapel
    By Jan Josefsz Van Goyen
    Located in Palm Desert, CA
    "River Landscape with a Windmill and Chapel" is a painting by Dutch Old Master Painter, Jan van Goyen. There are traces of a signature on the bow of the boat...
    Category

    1640s Old Masters Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Panel, Oil

  • Macbeth and the Three Witches a Painting on Panel by Francesco Zuccarelli
    By Francesco Zuccarelli
    Located in PARIS, FR
    This painting, created during Zuccarelli's stay in England, represents the decisive moment when Macbeth, together with Banquo, meets the three witches who announce that he will be Ki...
    Category

    1760s Old Masters Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Wood Panel

Recently Viewed

View All