The Judgement of Solomon

The notion of a ‘Solomonic judgement’ refers to fair and wise decision-making. Rubens dealt with the biblical story of the wisdom of King Solomon in his work: In a legal dispute between two women, both claimed to be the mother of a newborn child. To identify the real mother, Salomon proposed cutting the child in two with a sword. As Solomon predicted, only the true mother was willing to give up the child in order to save it.