The Judgment of Solomon

In a dream God granted King Solomon "a wise and an understanding heart," which the turbaned potentate made use of the following day. Two women each claimed an infant as their own, so Solomon ordered it cut in two. One of the women cried out that she would give up the child, thus revealing herself as the true mother. From 1616 until 1627 the Delft painter Bramer worked in Rome, where he adopted a broad range of dramatic ideas from Early Baroque artists, including Caravaggio and fellow Netherlanders such as Gerrit van Honthorst.

Credit: Gift of National Surety Company, 1911