Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Title: Idolatry of Solomon
Creator:
Description: King Solomon kneels before a column topped with an idol. One of his non-Christian wives stands to the other side of the column and puts a hand on his shoulder. Solomon's wide-eyes and excited gaze is fixed not on the statue of the god, but on his wife. The phallic column which is placed between his knees, further conveys the notion that his idolatry is performed out of lustfulness. This image is thus part of a wider commentary on the power that women wield over men via their sexuality. This work formed a set with the Hausbuchmeister engraving of Aristotlebeing ridden by Phyllis.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Rights: Public Domain
Subject (See Also): Carnivalesque Misogyny Paganism Power of Women (Literary Topos) Sexuality Solomon, Old Testament King
Geographic Area: Germany
Century: 15
Date: ca. 1480
Related Work: Aristotle and Phyllis: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Master_Of_The_Housebook_-_Aristotle_and_Phyllis_-_WGA14556.jpg
Current Location: London, The British Museum, 1850,0525.13,AN47050
Original Location:
Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Prints
Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Engravings
Donor:
Height/Width/Length(cm): //
Inscription:
Related Resources: Jane Campbell Hutchinson, "The Housebook Master and the Folly of the Wise Man," Art Bulletin 48, 1 (1966): 73-78.