Artwork Page for Samson

Details / Information for Samson

Samson

1630–31

Valentin de Boulogne

(French, 1591–1632)
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Culture
France, 17th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 157 x 125 x 7 cm (61 13/16 x 49 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 135.6 x 102.8 cm (53 3/8 x 40 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1972.50
Public Domain
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Location
217 Italian Baroque
Print
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Did You Know?

The figure of Samson was likely a self-portrait of the artist.

Description

The Old Testament hero Samson rests his head on his hand in a pensive, even melancholic pose. Objects on the table recall two of his heroic deeds: he killed a lion with his bare hands, and liberated the Israelites by slaughtering a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone. Samson’s cuirass, or breastplate, is joined at the shoulder by a clasp in the form of two bees—the emblem of the Barberini family, who commissioned the painting around 1630. In 1627, the Barberini had engaged Valentin to paint another biblical hero, David victorious with the head of Goliath; the canvas depicting Samson was designed to be its pendant.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts Samson, a man with a medium skin tone, curly dark hair, and a mustache. He leans his elbow on a lion's head and a bleached jawbone, resting his chin on one hand. Looking upward with a furrowed brow, he wears a blue scaled tunic and a heavy red cloak with a geometric border. His muscular form is highlighted against a deep, dark background by dramatic light.

Samson

1630–31

Valentin de Boulogne

(French, 1591–1632)
France, 17th century

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