Artwork Page for Samson and Delilah

Details / Information for Samson and Delilah

Samson and Delilah

c. 1616

Gerrit van Honthorst

(Dutch, 1590–1656)
Culture
Netherlands
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 158.4 x 122.5 x 11.8 cm (62 3/8 x 48 1/4 x 4 5/8 in.); Case: 139.7 x 177.8 x 28 cm (55 x 70 x 11 in.); Unframed: 129 x 94 cm (50 13/16 x 37 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1968.23
Public Domain
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Location
217 Italian Baroque
Print
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Did You Know?

Flickering candlelight and a nocturnal setting enhance the furtive nature of Delilah's actions.

Description

In retaliation for Samson’s single-handed decimation of their army, the Philistines bribed his lover Delilah to discover the source of his strength: his hair, uncut since birth. Samson’s hair was shorn as he lay sleeping in Delilah’s lap, draining his strength and allowing the Philistines to capture him. Honthorst intensified the inherent drama of the scene by limiting his depiction to just three closely packed figures, starkly illuminated by a single candle. The old woman’s silencing gesture involves the viewer in the action, making us complicit in Delilah’s deceit.
Vertically oriented oil painting depicting a central candle sparsely illuminating two women bending over a sleeping man, all with light skin tones. Samson, the shirtless man, leans on the lap of Delilah as she cuts a section of his ear-length, brown hair. On our left leans another woman, holding a candle as she looks to our left and raises a finger towards her lips. Light illuminates Delilah's face and hands, the rest receding to shadow.

Samson and Delilah

c. 1616

Gerrit van Honthorst

(Dutch, 1590–1656)
Netherlands

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