Who painted The Idolatry of King Solomon?

Willem De Poorter painted The Idolatry of King Solomon in 1640.

What Bible passage does The Idolatry of King Solomon depict?

The Idolatry of King Solomon depicts the biblical scene from 1 Kings 11:1-6.

Where is The Idolatry of King Solomon located?

The Idolatry of King Solomon is housed at Rijksmuseum, Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam.

The Idolatry of King Solomon by Willem De Poorter

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The Idolatry of King Solomon. Temple interior in which King Solomon, surrounded by a few women, kneels in front of an altar where incense is burned. To the left is a white-robed priest, pointing to a group of statues of Venus and Cupid. In the foreground, a man is hanging bundles of firewood.

Details

Artist: Willem De Poorter
Created: c. 1640
Medium: oil on panel
Dimension: 49cm × 63cm
Passage: 1 Kings 11:1-6
Housed at: Rijksmuseum Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam

Found in: 1 Kings, 1 Kings 11, 17th century, Solomon

1 Kings 11:1-6

1 Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;

2 of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love.

3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4 When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father was.

5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6 Solomon did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and didn’t go fully after Yahweh, as David his father did.

1 Kings 11:1-6 · World English Bible

The artist

Willem De Poorter

1608 - 1648

Haarlem, Netherland

The son of a Flemish émigré, Willem de Poorter was likely born in Haarlem in 1608. The circumstances of his training are not clear. It is often proposed that he studied with Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69) in Leiden, about 1629–30. That training, however, may have occurred in Amsterdam as late as the mid-1630s, thereby constituting not a student-pupil relationship so much as a mid-career supervision. By 1633 De Poorter’s name appears in the Haarlem city archives, where he is listed…