La Ricchezza di Salomone, oil on canvas, 17th century
La Ricchezza di Salomone. Oil on canvas. North Italian school of the 17th century. The large painting presents as its subject a well-known Old Testament theme, the wealth of King Solomon, recounted in the First Book of Kings: "King Solomon surpassed, therefore, in wealth and wisdom, all the kings of the earth. All over the world people longed to approach Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart. Everyone brought him, every year, offerings of silver and gold objects, robes, weapons, aromas, horses and mules." In the painting, the king, lavishly dressed in the symbols of royalty (the crown, scepter, ermine mantle), listens as he stands to the postulants who come to him to receive the advice dictated by his proverbial wisdom, and in return they bring him offerings, which are commensurate with their social role: some peasants bring gifts of sacks of grain, the fruits of their labor in the fields; another raises a cup aloft, to draw the king's attention. The painting refers in its colors and pictorial style to the production of northern Italy, especially Veneto. The painting has been restored and re-tinted.
ID: 2096-1710268493-85440