The Judgement of Solomon

This painting was originally made for the Solimena Room in Victor Amadeus II’s winter apartment in the royal palace of Turin, which took its name from the four paintings of biblical episodes by the painter Francesco Solimena. In 1733 Filippo Juvarra was commissioned by Charles Emmanuel III to modernise the residence, and he also saw to completing the paintings in the room, once again choosing a biblical subject that would allude to royal virtues, by famous artists, including Masucci. The Judgement of Solomon is one of the painter’s mature works, reinterpreting historical sources from Poussin to Raphael, and this painting in particular takes inspiration from Raphael’s Vatican Stanze.