Nicolas PoussinFrench, 1594–1665Le Jugement de Salomon
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Le Jugement de Salomon” now? Musée du Louvre, Salle 826, Aile Richelieu, Niveau 2, Paris. Yes, on view now. Checked September 26, 2026.
Closed· opens tomorrow at 9:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
The Judgement of Solomon is an oil on canvas painting of the judgement of Solomon by the French artist Poussin, from 1649. Produced during his 1647-1649 stay in Rome, it is now in the Louvre, in Paris. It measures 101 by 150 cm. Art historians largely consider it as one of the artist masterpieces, in the art of the 17th century French School and French art as a whole. Several engravings were produced of the work.
It was commissioned by Jean Pointel, a banker from Lyon and a close friend and faithful patron of Poussin, and sent to him to display in Paris during the following months. After Pointel's death, the work passed to the financier Nicolas du Plessis-Rambouillet, then the Procureur Général to the Parliament of Paris Achille III de Harlay, and then to Charles-Antoine Hérault, a painter and a member of the Académie française. Hérault sold the work to Louis XIV in 1685 for 5000 livres.
Read on
The French royal collection initially hung it in a cabinet in the surintendance des Bâtiments, before moving it to the château de Versailles around 1710, before being seen in the salon of the directeur des Bâtiments du roi in 1784. In 1792–1793, in accordance with the principles of the Decree of 2 November 1789, the painting was seized by the revolutionary state and moved to the Louvre as one of the works displayed there when it first opened as a public museum on 10 August 1793.
Details
- Accession number
- INV 7277
In the catalog
Sources
- Musée du Louvre
- Image: Musée du Louvre — © 2011 GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Stéphane Maréchalle
In the life of Nicolas Poussin
The whole life1641–1665
Post: Premier peintre du Roi
1647
André Félibien becomes friend and pupil
In 1647 André Félibien, secretary of the French embassy in Rome, became a friend and painting student of Poussin; later he wrote one of the first biographies of the artist.
after 1650
A trembling hand: his health declines
After 1650 Poussin’s health declined and a tremor in his hand grew worse — evidence of it is visible in his late drawings.
