Oordeel van Salomon (linkerdeel) 1625 - 1679

Jean Dughet’s engraving captures a pivotal moment from the Old Testament: the Judgement of Solomon. Here we see the profound wisdom of Solomon made visible through gesture and expression. Observe the distraught woman kneeling before Solomon, desperately reaching out to him. Her maternal plea is an echo of the *pathos formula*, the universal language of suffering and entreaty. We see this motif again and again—from ancient Roman sculptures to Renaissance paintings, such as Sandro Botticelli’s depictions of the mourning women in his “Lamentation over the Dead Christ,” a symbol of deep sorrow and profound humanity. The mother's protective gesture, the desperation etched on her face, connects us to a primal fear: the loss of a child. This emotional intensity is mirrored in the exaggerated gestures, invoking a shared, collective memory of maternal love and despair, creating a timeless bridge between the biblical narrative and our own subconscious understanding of human emotion. The symbol reminds us how images are passed down through history and take on new meanings in different contexts.