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The Judgment of Solomon

mid-16th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 536
This undulating curiosity is carved on the top, sides, and back. On the back, in appreciably low relief and a flowing, Italianate style, is the Resurrection of Christ, the basic features of which are found on a stone in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. The front bears a Judgment of Solomon in much the same quirky style as the cramped enactments of Jacob’s Dream and Elijah in the Fiery Chariot along the sides. The Solomon scene also occurs on a cameo in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The carver of the Metropolitan cameo most likely used the gems in Paris and Vienna as sources, rather than the other way around. The chunky object is drilled through from top to bottom; it may have been suspended, but it is rather weighty to have been worn as a pendant.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Judgment of Solomon
  • Date: mid-16th century
  • Culture: probably Netherlandish
  • Medium: Agate
  • Dimensions: Diameter, obverse: 1 3/4 x 3/4 in. (4.5 x 2 cm); Diameter, reverse: 59 x 19.5 mm
  • Classification: Lapidary Work-Gems
  • Credit Line: The Milton Weil Collection, 1938
  • Object Number: 38.150.2
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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