Judgement of Solomon

Raphael painted this Judgement of Solomon around 1508, now at the Vatican Museums, as a ceiling decoration for the Stanza della Segnatura — the pendant composition to the Justice medallion in the vault's program. Solomon's famous judgment between two women claiming the same infant illustrated divine wisdom applied to legal judgment, establishing Old Testament precedent for the canonical law depicted in the wall fresco below. The scene of Solomon threatening to divide the living child, testing the true mother's love against the false claimant's indifference, was a standard emblem of wise justice. Raphael depicted the dramatic moment of revelation with his characteristic compositional clarity, compressing narrative tension into a small but powerfully organized format.

Oil on panel with Raphael's characteristic balance of form, luminous coloring, and compositional harmony. The work demonstrates the artistic qualities characteristic of Raphael's mature period.