Solomon and the Queen os Sheba; HOLBEIN, Hans, 1534, Pen and brush in bistre and grey wash, heightened in white, gold, and oxidised silver with red and green watercolour over black chalk on vellum, Royal Library, Windsor Castle
Solomon anthe Queen of Sheba
Understand the scene
WHAT YOU CAN SEE IN THIS PICTURE
The Queen of Sheba comes to visit King Solomon whose wisdom she has heard to be praised.
The king remains seated on a throne decorated with lions, he sometimes holds out his sceptre towards her.
The queen advances to him accompanied by her maid-servants, she offers him some presents and spices since she reigns over a region of Southern Arabia.
.. AND IN OTHER PICTURES
They are also found sitting or standing and speaking side by side. According to an apocryphal gospel, the queen has received the revelation of the end of the Jewish kingdom and of the coming and crucifixion of Jesus; she advises Solomon about it.
The queen’s retinue, like that of the magi, evokes the splendours of the Orient.
Do not confuse with
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Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Esther and King Ahasuerus; Jacoppo TINTORETTO; c; 1560; oil on canvas; Museo del Prado, Madrid |
Esther and the Queen of Shebahave nothing in common but both of them are received with solemnity by a king. These two scenes then have a similar structure, the same sumptuous oriental scenery but it is often easy to distinguish between them by observing the two women: The Queen of Sheba often assumes a very proud attitude whereas Esther, on the contrary, knows that she risks her life when coming to see the king, she lacks confidence. See Esther
In both these works, Tintoretto has amused himself to spread confusion. |
The biblical narrative
The First Book of Kings, chapter 10
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. (1 Kings 10:1)
The queen asks him a certain number of questions which he answers with wisdom.
And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of your acts and of your wisdom…Blessed be the LORD thy God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore he made you king, to do judgment and justice.
And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and large quantities of spices, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as those which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon… And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Comment
The episode of the Queen of Sheba took place in the 10th century BC. Solomon’s reign was a period of peace and the king established relations with his neighbours, including North Yemen from where the queen’s rich caravan came.
See similar pictures
| The meeting between the queen of Sheba and King Solomon takes place on an equal footing |
The Queen of Sheba before Solomon; illustrator of the “Bible historiale”; 1372 miniature; Manuscript MMW 10 B 23; Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague.
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The Queen of Sheba meeting Solomon; Piero della Francesca; fresco; part of “the Legend of the true Cross”; main chapel of St Francis, Arezzo
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or , on the contrary, King Solomon manifests his superiority by receiving the queen as a dependent sovereign who brings him some presents as a sign of submission. |
The Queen of Sheba before Solomon; Nicolas KNUPFER; 1640; oil on canvas; the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
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The Queen of Sheba and Solomon; Julius Schnorr von CAROLSFELD; 1851-60; engraving from “Bibel in Bildern”.
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