The key to interpreting this scene is situated just above the top of the throne on which the young man is seated. There, suspended from the ceiling, hangs the skin of a bearded male figure, its mouth and the openings where the eyes used to be are stretched wide open. Rubens’ learned contemporaries will have immediately recognized in these human remains the figure of sisamenes. The writings of both herodotus and valerius maximus recount how this persian judge (sixth-century bc) was skinned alive and then executed by his king cambyses as a punishment for taking bribes. The young man sitting on the throne is otanes, sisamenes’ son and successor. Rubens’ scene depicts the moment when the dignity of the judge, as symbolized by the rod, is transferred to otanes. The skin of sisamenes hangs above his throne as a warning not to succumb to corruption like his father. Object Type: painting. Date: between 1626 and 1700. Dimensions: height: 44 cm (17.3 in) ; width: 44.2 cm (17.4 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Sanssouci Picture Gallery. Peter Paul Rubens (workshop) - The Justice of Cambyses
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