# The Judgment of Solomon [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [VALENTIN DE BOULOGNE]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 176 x 210 cm ## Commentary The Judgment of Solomon c. 1625 Oil on canvas, 176 x 210 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris The influence of Caravaggio's dramatic style which revolutionised European painting at the beginning of the seventeenth century can be seen clearly in Valentin's work. He would have come into contact with Caravaggio's work in Rome where he went as a very young man, and spent all of his short career. In The Judgment of Solomon the strength of forms outlined against the shadow, so reminiscent of Caravaggio, does not preclude an atmosphere of mystery and poetry that is peculiar to Valentin. Louis XIV owned several of his paintings; five are still hanging in the King's bedchamber in the Cháteau de Versailles. ## Related artworks - [Card-sharpers]() - [Christ Driving the Money Changers out of the Temple]() - [Company with Fortune-Teller \(detail\)]() - [Company with Fortune-Teller \(detail\)]() - [Company with Fortune-Teller]() - [Crowning with Thorns]() - [David with the Head of Goliath and Two Soldiers]() - [David with the Head of Goliath \(detail\)]() - [David with the Head of Goliath]() - [Denial of Saint Peter]() - [Expulsion of the Money-Changers from the Temple]() - [Fortune Teller \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()