Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Judgement of Solomon
A standing guard holds a child before a seated ruler while two women reach into the space between them. The raised blade and the women’s different gestures concentrate the court’s attention on a single contested life. Doré keeps the architecture high and formal but makes the foreground exchange dominate it. The caption identifies Solomon’s judgement. The design depicts the crisis of the biblical account, with recognition emerging through a response to danger rather than through the visible grandeur of the throne.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Judgement of Solomon" [editorial title]. In The Bible Gallery, Gustave Dore; Talbot W. Chambers. Undated Cassell & Company edition; one hundred illustrations with supplied descriptive letterpress, undated edition, Cassell & Company, Limited. Source scan leaf 157. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/bible-dore-156
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Complete plate reviewed against the scan; printed caption supplies subject. Crop excludes surrounding paper and separate caption without changing scan tone. Letterpress theology is not adopted as historical proof.
Sources
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The Bible GalleryGustave Dore; Talbot W. ChambersUndated editionMore from this book
All 98 illustrations
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Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). The Judgement of Solomon. The Bible Gallery. Scan leaf 157. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/bible-dore-156