Frans Floris I (Antwerp 1519-1570)

The attribution to Floris was confirmed by Dr. Carl van de Velde, who saw the painting at first hand when it was on the market in 1999. He dated the work to the late 1540s, shortly after the artist's return from Italy, noting stylistic affinities with Floris' Judgement of Solomon, of circa 1547 (Antwerp, Musée des Beaux-Arts; C. van de Velde, Frans Floris. Leven en Werken, Brussels, 1975, I, p. 155, II, fig. 3). The subject, which is taken from Livy XXVI:50, was popular in the Renaissance as an example of good judgement; the Roman general Scipio, after his capture of New Carthage, is shown returning a beautiful captive to her betrothed. The subject was often displayed in courtrooms to admonish judges to give righteous verdicts. Indeed, the unusual make-up of the support - out of vertically aligned planks - suggests that it may have been intended as part of the panelling of a room, perhaps as an overdoor? The Judgement of Solomon, now in Antwerp, was once displayed in the City Hall, where the Court of Judgement had their gatherings.