The Judgement of Cambyses

Gerard David · 1498

The story

The Judgement of Cambyses is an oil-on-wood diptych by Early Netherlandish artist Gerard David, depicting the arrest and flaying of the corrupt Persian judge Sisamnes on the order of Cambyses, based on Herodotus' Histories. The diptych was commissioned in 1487/1488 by the municipal authorities of Bruges which requested a series of panels for the deputy burgomaster's room in the town hall.

The diptych was painted on oak panels and was first mentioned in the Bruges' archives as The Last Judgement. It was used by the town burghers to encourage honesty among the magistrates and as a symbolic public apology for the imprisonment of Maximilian I in Bruges in 1488. The top right corner of the flaying scene features Sisamnes' son dispensing justice from his father's chair, now draped with the flayed skin.

It is one of the few works by David that is not based on traditional religious themes.

There are also other paintings with the same subject, such as that by Dirck Vellert from 1542.

Artist

Gerard David

Date

1498

Collection

Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium

Movement

Early Netherlandish painting

Medium

oil paint, panel, oak panel

Size

182.3 × 318.6 cm

Story adapted from the Wikipedia article and its contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: CC0, Wikimedia Commons.

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