Portrait of a Young Man like Solomon, the Wise King

Oil painting on canvas

120 x 141 cm.

within gilded wood frame cm. 134 x 162 cm.

The beautiful painting shows us an image of the famous King Solomon, a legendary biblical figure who over the centuries became the personification of the good ruler, and proverbially recognized as one of the wisest politicians in history. The features of the portrayed are presumably those of the client who commissioned the work, who wanted to emphasize his image by impersonating a legendary character.

The ruler, with an elegant oriental-style crown headdress, is dressed in sumptuous robes of silk, precious brocade and pearls that encircle his shoulders, wears royal jewels, and is portrayed in the act of writing with a quill.

To reinforce his image of wisdom, he holds in his hands an open book on which a Latin phrase from the Ecclesiastes can be read, one of the short books of the Old Testament, dedicated to moral ethics and written by King Solomon himself. Detail of great semantic refinement, indicating that the client was not just an art collector but a man of culture.

The phrase 'Qui amat periculum, peribit in illo' (Ecclesiastes, III-27) - 'He who loves danger will perish in it' - alludes to anyone who voluntarily puts himself in danger by yielding to temptations and sin, will be destined and get lost.

In the lower part of the composition there is a sheet that shows a second inscription, related to the first, or 'Ocasiones fugit', a sort of exhortation that the essay reign feels like giving to the observer of the work. In fact, anyone who desires a virtuous life, directed towards good, must not only abandon sin, but also the opportunity to sin, thus drawing on his own moral virtue.

Entering now into the merits of the stylistic features of our precious canvas, their analysis leads us to place its origin in that magnificent classicist expressiveness of the Bolognese culture of the seventeenth century, with clear references to the master Guido Reni.

The compositional details, first of all the enameling of the complexion of the face, rendered with incredible brilliance as well as the precious details of the robes or the emerald green damask cloth, lead us to circumscribe the work to the great Franco-Flemish painter Michele Desubleo (Maubeuge , 1602 - Parma, 1676). Listed as one of Reni's best students, he owes his great collecting success to his extraordinary ability to blend the best Bolognese tradition with his Nordic origins and again with Roman influences, elements that translate into a lexicon of balanced and rare elegance.

In detail, if the masterful use of colors, bright and enamelled, attests the Nordic origin of his style, and the shadows of the large draperies betray the contact especially with the works of Simon Vouet in Rome, where it is attested in 1624 next to the stepbrother Nicolas Regnier, the outline of his figures, confident but always marked by the search for a turned shape, brings him closer to the style of the masterpieces of his master Guido Reni.

Accompanied by a certificate of photographic authenticity in accordance with the law.

It is our duty to warn you that, given the delicacy of some particular ancient frames, there is the possibility that during transport small cracks in the gilding may occur, despite the packaging being carried out with the utmost care.

We take care of and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.

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