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Lucas van Leyden

Solomon's Idolatry

1514
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
17 × 13 cm (6.7 × 5.1 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

King Solomon, famed for possessing “the wisdom of God,” kneels at the feet of an idol of Moloch, a pagan god represented as a nude man astride an orb, holding an animal skull. One of Solomon’s 700 wives and 300 concubines points to the statue, instructing Solomon to adore Moloch. By adorning the domineering woman with a feathered hat, Lucas van Leyden emphasized her foreignness and dangerously heretical beliefs. Despite Solomon’s wisdom, his female consort, possibly the Queen of Sheba, turns his heart away from God.

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