Ouch!!
"Judgement of Cambyses" - Gerard David (1498)
"According to an old Persian story, Sisamnes was a corrupt judge who was ordered by King Cambyses to be flayed alive. The left panel [not shown] presents the arraignment of Sisamnes while Cambyses is recounting the guilty charges. Sisamnes had, among other things, allowed himself to be bribed in order to mete out an untrue verdict. In the background, he receives a merchant on the steps of his home.
On the right panel [pictured above], the gruesome flaying of Sisamnes is depicted. On the upper right, Otanes is seated as judge on the peeled off skin of his father. The panels formed a diptych and hang as “justice panels” in the justice hall of the Bruges city hall in order to encourage the chief justices to always avoid corruption.” Source: http://vlaamseprimitieven.vlaamsekunstcollectie.be/en/collection/judgement-of-cambyses
Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. It has prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions bet... ... read more 
