The Judgment of Solomon 1624 - 1663

Curator: This sketch is entitled “The Judgment of Solomon,” rendered in pen, ink, and watercolor on paper, dating to sometime between 1624 and 1663, attributed to Francesco Allegrini. What catches your eye? Editor: Immediately, a certain drama. A life-or-death intensity, right there on the paper. Although the muted tones create this ethereal distance, it is an absolutely packed composition. You feel like you're in the thick of the conflict, witness to an event of significant proportion. Curator: Exactly, and I find myself pondering the expressions—can you decipher their feelings, the turmoil simmering beneath those finely sketched faces? Allegrini’s managed to convey this epic moral test, this knotty problem. And the characters feel timeless—they could be in the ancient world or…us. Editor: Oh, definitely. The Judgment of Solomon, even just sketched, makes us think about contemporary conflict. When you look closer, Solomon looks so cool and distant while everyone below him are the characters fighting. It forces us to ask; whose life and body is valued? Which is to be discarded and cut apart without recognition? Curator: He certainly invites that question. Now I can't help seeing Solomon's judgement as an old power move: performative in its cleverness and ruthlessly violent. I appreciate Allegrini’s capacity for a very dynamic staging. It reminds me, funnily enough, of those intense scenes in court dramas. Editor: Right, and isn’t that staging deliberate? Placing Solomon so high up, like a divine puppet master? He is completely detached from reality but is the character making decisions and impacts about lives, that's why I love how you said that is almost performative. The two characters in combat also have different representation of gender which adds layers of depth on the conflict. This work is far more disruptive than it first lets on. Curator: Disruptive. That is such a striking read of it! I do think there is room to ponder the violence of judgment. It also helps that the visual effect of the ink is so dreamlike and unsettling. Perhaps Allegrini hoped we'd be shaken enough to reassess our own certainties. Editor: Precisely. Leaving us less sure and far more thoughtful is what truly impactful artwork, I think, can achieve. And hopefully it resonates long after we leave this room.