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Feb 15, 2008

The Power of Women: Samson and Delilah

c. 1512

Lucas van Leyden

(Dutch, 1494–1533)

Netherlands, 16th century

Woodcut

Image: 41.1 x 28.7 cm (16 3/16 x 11 5/16 in.)

Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland in memory of Charles T. Brooks 1935.117

Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein 6

Location

not on view

Description

The publication of Albrecht Dürer's three impressive woodcut series in 1511—The Large Passion, The Apocalypse, and The Life of the Virgin—had an immediate impact on Northern painters such as Lucas. Lucas's first major designs for woodcuts were six large images whose theme was the power of women, that is, women's ability to dominate man by using wiles and beauty was a subject with broad, popular appeal at the time. The woodcut medium was eminently suitable for the bold, straightforward manner in which Lucas presented his subjects. The moment representing woman's treachery is always depicted as a restrained confrontation: here, Delilah cuts Samson's hair, sapping his extraordinary strength and leaving him vulnerable to the Philistines who wait in the background to seize him. In size, these woodcuts rival Dürer's largest sheets. The motionless figures possess a monumentality that contributes to the dramatic impact.

Provenance

Paul J. Sachs

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 651 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 104 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 104 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 120 archive.org

Exhibition history

Prints Accessioned in 1935. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 14-November 8, 1936).

Inaugural Exhibition of the New Print Gallery - Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-November 13, 1938).

Prints by Lucas Van Leyden and His Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 28-April 2, 1939).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

Prints 1400-1800. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 18, 1956-January 20, 1957); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (February 1-March 3, 1957); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (November 1-December 1, 1957).

Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).

Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-September 9, 1965).

Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-February 28, 1967).

Eight Masters of the Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 14, 1980-January 18, 1981).

Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).

Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=The Power of Women: Samson and Delilah|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1935.117|author=Lucas van Leyden|year=c. 1512|access-date=01 October 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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The Power of Women: Samson and Delilah

The Power of Women: Samson and Delilah

Lucas van Leyden

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