Judgment of Solomon (Poussin)
The Judgment of Solomon is the title of a painting by Nicolas Poussin , which the latter completed in 1649 and which he himself regarded as a masterpiece. The picture is the setting of a biblical theme that has been dealt with several times in Western art and literature. The judgment of Solomon served as an example of the ruler's virtues of justice and wisdom when furnishing secular buildings . In the course of this pictorial rhetoric, Raphael painted the judgment of Solomon in the ceiling frescoes of the Stanzen between the allegorical figures of Justitia and philosophy , i.e. H. between justice and wisdom. As with many of his history paintings, Poussin followed Raphael's example in the composition of this picture .
The subject of the picture is the argument between two women over a child, which they both claim to be theirs. One of the two tries to push her own child, who is crushed in sleep, under the other and to appropriate their child. The two women call King Solomon as a judge, who settles the dispute with a judgment that, as a Solomonic judgment, has become a household word, especially in legal cases. Poussin's picture captures the moment of the action, which, according to the rules of Greek tragedy, triggers catharsis in the viewer by arousing fear and pity in him.
The picture was painted for Poussin's Parisian patron, the banker Jean Pointel. After Pointel's collection was dissolved, it ended up in the painting collection of Louis XIV. Preparatory sketches exist in the Louvre, including the drawing shown above, in which Poussin determined the composition of the picture. The final version as an oil painting differs from this drawing in various essential details.
The source of text in the Bible
The text to which Poussin refers in his picture comes from the first book of kings of the Old Testament (1 Kings 3: 16-28) and reads as follows in the standard translation of the Bible:
- At that time two prostitutes came and stood before the king. One said, “Please, Lord, I and this woman live in the same house, and I gave birth there in her presence. This woman gave birth on the third day after I gave birth. We were together; no stranger was with us in the house, only the two of us were there. Now this woman's son died during the night; because she had crushed him in his sleep. She got up in the middle of the night, took my child from me while I was sleeping, and put it by her side. But she laid her dead child by my side. When I got up in the morning to breastfeed my child, it was dead. But when I looked at it carefully that morning, it wasn't my child that I had given birth. "Then the other woman called:" No, my child is alive, and your child is dead. ”But the first replied:“ No, your child is dead and my child is alive. ”So they quarreled before the king. Then the king began: "This one says: 'My child is alive and your child is dead!' and the other says: 'No, your child is dead and my child is alive.' "And the king went on:" Get me a sword! "It was brought before the king. Now he decided: “Cut the living child in two and give one half to one and one half to the other!” But now the mother of the living child asked the king - the motherly love for her child stirred in her: “Please , Lord, give her the living child and do not kill it! ”But the other shouted:“ It should neither belong to me nor to you. Cut it up! ”Then the king commanded:“ Give the living child to him, and do not kill it; for she is his mother. ”All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had pronounced, and they looked up to him with awe; for they knew that the wisdom of God was in him when he spoke rightly.
Image description
In the central axis of the picture, King Solomon is enthroned on a simple armchair, the head part of which surrounds Solomon's head like a halo. The throne stands on a high antique base made of light marble, which is decorated with reliefs of mythical animals. The throne is flanked by two mighty dark blue marble columns that are raised on high pedestals .
On both sides of the throne, those involved in the negotiation face each other: on the left, the mother of the dead child, her deathly pale child like a sack under her arm, with an outstretched arm accusatory and angrily pointing at the second woman. Behind her, a group of spectators is watching the scene. They show compassion and concern in a variety of ways. One of the spectators is rigid with horror, her child is anxiously pressing against her. Another, shuddering, turns away from the event with a gesture of defense, while a man has apparently already understood Solomon's judgment and folds his hands in gratitude.
On the opposite side, Solomon's entourage is watching the dramatic scene when one of the soldiers is about to draw his sword to cut the living child he is holding by one leg, while the mother tries with outspread arms to protect the child from the executioner .
composition
In composing the picture, Poussin makes use of the iconography of the Last Judgment , a theme that has been executed in countless variations in Western art since late antiquity, and which the contemporary viewer of the picture should have remembered. Like the judge of the world, clad in lordly red in Memling's picture, whose head is surrounded by an aura of light, Solomon judges good and evil, the saved and the damned.
The picture is strictly symmetrical, the lines of flight of the wide marble tiles lead the view of Solomon's throne, which dominates the whole picture. By consistently reducing personnel and accessories, as they are still present in the drawing, a concentration on the main event is achieved. The background designed in the preliminary drawing with the semicircular balustrade , which is reminiscent of a theater box populated with spectators, was reduced to a quiet, large area, which is only structured by two blind windows and the two blue columns that flank the dark throne room. In this way a horizontal division of the picture surface into a lower part with the dramatically moving court scene and the upper calm and clear picture surface, in which the judge enthroned from the crowd is enthroned in sublimity.
A further concentration is created by reducing the number of people involved: By doing without the two soldiers, one of whom wants to hold back the wrong mother, and the other tackles the imminent division of the child, the viewer's attention is specifically drawn to the two women . Through a spatial separation of the now isolated women, the three main characters are integrated into a striking triangular composition,
The Judgment of Solomon in Western Art
The Solomonic Judgment is one of the most famous biblical stories. The theme, which was varied in many versions in occidental visual arts, served as an example of the justice of a ruler or an institution in profane art. It can therefore be found in palaces such as the Doge's Palace in Venice or the Archbishop's Palace in Udine , at the Edelmann Palace in Olomouc , as well as in town halls such as the Old Town Hall in Vienna or the Town Hall in Amsterdam. From the sacred art, where it becomes a picture of divine justice, there are numerous examples from late antiquity to modern times in book illumination, ivory art, on cathedrals (Chartres) as well as in fresco painting of baroque churches.
Examples:
Cover of a codex, ivory, 10th – 11th centuries Century, Louvre, Paris
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ; Archbishop's Palace in Udine, 1726–1728
Ceiling fresco in the hostel wing of the Pfarrhof Frauenberg an der Enns : The Solomon judgment
Johann Gottfried Schadow : drawing, around 1837
literature
- Ann Surgers: Le corps éloquent de l'acteur au XVIIe siècle à partir du "Jugement de Salomon" (1649): Figures de la rhetorique du visible. In: European Theater Iconography. Proceedings of the European Science Foundation Network. Ed. By Christopher Palme, Robert Ehrenstein, Cesare Molinari. Roma 2002. pp. 207-219. ISBN 88-8319-718-6
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Arik Jahn: Nicolas Poussin's multiplication table, ill. Lower right gallery, in: Wallstreet Journal, September 11, 2015. Accessed November 16, 2015.
- ↑ … la répresentation d'un moment répondant à la définition de la tragédie, en ce sens qu'il opère sur le spectateur par catharsis , en provoquant chez lui terreur et pitié . Quoted from Surgers, Roma 2002, p. 211.