The Judgment of Solomon

Seated on a central throne under a canopy, Solomon gestures toward an executioner who holds an infant by the leg with a raised blade. One woman kneels in desperate plea to save the child, while another child lies dead on the ground between them. A group of men on the right observe the king's exercise of discernment within a classical architectural frame.

Solomon was a pivotal figure for Renaissance thinkers, embodying the 'Prisca Sapientia' or ancient wisdom that unified biblical history with Neoplatonic and Hermetic ideals. This scene represents the transition from literal law to the spiritual discernment of truth, a concept central to the Solomonic tradition that influenced both early modern Kabbalah and ritual magic.