1518
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Solomon's Idolatry is a 1518 by Lucas van Leyden, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a scene where one of Solomon's wives is persuading him to worship idols. This painting shows Lucas's skill in integrating figures into a setting. He was inspired by a nearby series, and this work is smaller but more natural. Check out the work of Albrecht Dürer to see a similar style, and look into the technique of chiaroscuro.
One can assume that the popularity of the earlier Power of Women series (on view nearby) inspired Lucas to produce another similar group. Also consisting of six subjects but somewhat smaller in size, this set reveals Lucas's increased ability to integrate figures more naturally into a setting. This scene, in which one of his wives persuades Solomon to worship idols, also demonstrates a desire to follow Albrecht Dürer's systematic style of hatching to produce tonal effects (see Dürer's The Large Passion: The Last Supper).
Read the full account in the museum source.
Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very accomplished engraver.
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