Solomon — Gustave Doré · Bible Explorer

Solomon

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

This is a portrait rather than a scene: in the 1866 Bible Doré gave several great figures a page of their own. The engraver signed it with a flourish at the bottom right.

Old Solomon sits on a stone bench, crowned and long-bearded, leaning on one elbow with a pen in his hand. A written scroll rests in his lap, another lies on the bench, and a pile of pages has fallen to the floor. Pillars and a carved winged lion frame him in soft, even daylight.

From the text

“Solomon composed three thousand proverbs” (1 Kings 4:32)

“his songs numbered a thousand and five” (1 Kings 4:32)

He spoke of trees, animals, birds, reptiles and fish (1 Kings 4:33)

The artist’s own

Solomon as a white-bearded old man — the text gives no age here

A pen, scrolls and loose pages, like a scholar at work

A winged lion carved on the bench and fanciful capitals

Details

Solomon

The king sits with a crown and a long white beard.

The scroll

A written scroll lies across his knee.

Pages

A pile of written sheets lies on the floor.

Winged lion

A winged lion is carved on the side of the bench.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 93 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.

The verses

1 Kgs 4:29–34And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations. Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.