The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2023

Samson

c. 1630

Valentin de Boulogne

(French, 1594–1632)

France, 17th century

Oil on canvas

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.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1972.50

Location

not on view

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 a bee—the emblem of the Barberini family, who commissioned the painting. The figure of Samson may be a self-portrait of the artist.

Provenance
1972-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Probably 1921-1947
Edoardo Almagià [b. 1928], Rome, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
Probably 1921-1947
Probably Roberto Almagià [1883-1947], by descent to his son, Edoardo Almagià 1 1
c. 1899-1921
Ing. Dr. Edoardo Almagià [b. 1841], Rome, by descent to his son Roberto Almagià, or grandson, Edoardo Almagià 1 2
1899
(Galleria Sangiorgi, Rome, Sciarra sale, March 28, 1899, fifth sale, no. 363, sold to Edoardo Almagià) 1 3
1812-1899
Colonna di Sciarra family, Rome 1 4
1631-1812
Cardinals Francesco [1597 –1679] and Antonio Barberini [1607-1671], by inheritance within the Barberini family, Rome 1 5

Provenance Footnotes

1 1 There is no evidence that Roberto Almagià owned this painting, other than the likelihood that he inherited the painting from his father before it passed to his own son, Edoardo, who would later sell it to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
2 1Almagià, a prominent engineer, appears to have acquired many of the Sciarra paintings prior to the 1899 sale, most likely in lieu of payments against outstanding debts, but seven of the Almagià paintings did come from the sale, including the Cleveland picture. A manuscript catalogue of Almagià’s collection attributes to the painting (No. 15) to Caroselli.
3 1 The painting is attributed to Caroselli in the sale catalogue.
4 1 In 1728, Cornelia Barberini, the family heiress, married Giulio Cesare Colonna di Sciarra, and from that point on, the family was known as Barberini-Colonna, or Colonna di Sciarra. In 1812, after complicated litigation, the property of the Barberini family was divided between the Barberini and Sciarra branches of the family, and the Valentin entered the Colonna di Sciarra collection in Rome. Eventually, the painting ended up in the possession of Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, who in 1891-1892 sold part of his collection illegally for export. He was heavily fined and sentenced to three months in jail. The decision was appealed, but his activities led to the financial ruin of the family. In 1897, Sciarra owed nearly two million lire to four parties, including Ing. Dr. Edoardo Almagià. 126 paintings were to be accepted as payment against Sciarra’s debts; however, for unknown reasons, the contract was never signed, and instead, 133 pictures were sold at auction at Galleria Sangiorgi in March 1899.
5 1 This painting was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini in December 1630: “A Valentino Pittore sc. 5 m.ta mettere in ord.e la Tela, e colori da far Un Sansone p S. Em.za –5 [III. MC. 26-31 136v.]. In July 1631, 25 scudi were paid to Valentin: “A Valentino Pittore per resto dell Quadro del Sansone a 25 sc.—18” [III. Gius. 1501-1750. 1508] (see Doc. 345 in Marilyn Lavin’s “Barberini Inventories,” 1975). One month later, the painting was incorrectly inventoried as by Poussin [III.inv. 26-31 and III.Barb.Lat. 5635; no. 482]. In 1633 the painting was inventoried, together with Valentin’s David with the Head of Goliath, as in the collection of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Francesco’s younger brother, and in 1649, the painting was apparently again in the collection of Francesco [III.inv. 49; no. 676], as Valentin. The painting was incorrectly inventoried again, this time as by Andrea Camassei, in 1738 [Arch. Barb. Ind. II, cred. VI, cas. 70, Maz. LXXXIX, Lett. I, no. 32].
Citations
“A Grandi Costruttori…Impresa Almagià,” accessed May 29, 2014, http://sh1.webring.com/people/va/arcigno20000/almagia.htm.
Edoardo Almagià, invoice, June 15, 1972, in CMA curatorial file.
Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.
Rosenberg, Pierre. France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982.
Galleria Sangiorgi. Tableaux, objets d'art. Rome: 1899.
Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.
Rosenberg, Pierre. France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982.
Filippo Mariotti, “Galleria Colonna di Sciarra,” La Legislazione delle Belle Arti (1892): 135.
Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.
Rosenberg, Pierre. France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982.
Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, and Marilyn Aronberg Lavin. Seventeenth-Century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art. New York: New York University Press, 1975.
Keith Christiansen, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Oct. 27, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.
Ramdohr, Friedrich Wilhelm Basilius von. Ueber Mahlerei und Bildhauerarbeit in Rom: für Liebhaber des Schoenen in der Kunst. Leipzig, Germany: Bei Weibmanns Erben und Reich, 1787.
Nibby, A. Itinéraire de Rome et de Ses Environs. Rome: [publisher not identified], 1842. Mentioned: Vol. I, p. 34 hdl.handle.net
Pistolesi, Erasmo. Descrizione di Roma e suoi contorni: con nuovo metodo breve e facile per vedere la città in otto giorni : adorna di incisioni dè primi bulini. Roma: G. Gallarini, 1856. . Mentioned: P. 94 hdl.handle.net
Mariotti, Filippo. La Legislazione delle Belle Arti. Roma: Unione Cooper. editr, 1892. Mentioned: P. 135, no. 46
Orbaan, Johannes Albertus Franciscus. Documenti sul barocco in Roma. Rome, Italy:1920. Reproduced: p. 511
Haskell, Francis. Patrons and Painters; A Study in the Relations between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque. London, United Kingdom: Chatto & Windus, 1963. Reproduced: p. 45
Blunt, Anthony. The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin. Critical Catalogue. London: Phaidon, 1966. Mentioned: Vol. 1, P. 158, no. L4
Vivian, Frances. "Poussin and Claude Seen from the Archivio Barberini." The Burlington Magazine 111, no. 801 (December 1969): 719-26. Mentioned: P. 721-722 www.jstor.org
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Catalogue of European Paintings in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Minneapolis, MN: Institute of Arts, 1971. Reproduced: p. 163
Spear, Richard E. Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Sciarra and Fiano Collections. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1972. Mentioned: P. 32, no. 14
Spear, Richard. "Unknown Pictures by the Caraggisti (with Notes on Caravaggio and His Followers)." Storia dell'Arte 14 (1972): 149-161. Mentioned: P. 151, P. 152, n. 72
Borea, Evelina. "Considerazione sulla Mostra 'Caravaggio e i suoi Seguaci' a Cleveland." Bollettino d'Arte LVII (1972): 154-164. Mentioned: P. 162
Pepper, Stephen D. "Caravaggio Rivedute e Coretto: La Mostra di Cleveland." Arte Illustrata V (1972): 170-178. Mentioned: P. 171; Reproduced: P. 175, fig. 8
Nicolson, Benedict. "Caravaggesques at Cleveland." The Burlington Magazine 114, no. 827 (February 1972): 112-117. Mentioned: P. 114 www.jstor.org
Held, Julius S. “Caravaggio and His Followers.” Art in America 60 (March 1972): 40–47. Mentioned: P. 44
Brejon de Lavergnée, Arnauld, and Jean Pierre Cuzin. I Caravaggeschi Francesi. Roma: De Luca, 1973. Mentioned: P. 88, 123, 126, 168
Enggass, Robert. "Review of Spear's Caravaggio and His Followers." The Art Bulletin 55, no. 3 (September 1973): 460-462. Mentioned: P. 462 www.jstor.org
Thuillier, Jacques. L'Opera Completa di Poussin. Milano: Rizzoli, 1974. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 119, no. R21
Lavin, Marilyn Aronberg. Seventeenth-Century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art. New York. NY: New York University Press, 1975. Mentioned: p. 43, p. 98, p. 114, p. 242, p. 530, p. 695
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 171 archive.org
Nicolson, Benedict. The International Caravaggesque Movement: Lists of Pictures by Caravaggio and His Followers Throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650. Oxford, United Kingdom: Phaidon, 1979. Reproduced: p. 104
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 147-150; Reproduced: p. 148
Wine, Humphrey. The Seventeenth Century French Paintings. London, United Kingdom: National Gallery: Distributed by Yale University Press, 2001. Reproduced: p. 395, fig. 5
Rosenberg, Pierre, and Jean-Pierre Caillet. La peinture française. Paris, France: Mengès, 2001. Reproduced: p. 245
Iacono, Margaret. Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York, NY: The Frick Collection, 2006. Mentioned: p. 40-43, Reproduced: no. 7
Fried, Michael. The Moment of Caravaggio. Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press, 2010. Reproduced: p. 175
Franklin, David, and Sebastian Schütze. Caravaggio & His Followers in Rome. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011. Reproduced: p. 120, fig. 46
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 182
Theiler, Esther. "Valentin de Boulogne's Portraits of Raffaello Menicucci -- The Buffoon Count of Monte San Savino." Studiolo: Revue d'histoire de l'art de l'Académie de France à Rome. 13 (2016): 130-145. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 136, fig. 5
Sman, Gert Jan van der. Carravaggio and the Painters of the North. [Madrid]: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2016. Reproduced: p. 44, fig. 24
Lemoine, Annick, Keith Christiansen, Patrizia Cavazzini, Jean-Pierre Cuzin, and Gianni Papi. Valentin De Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio. New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Haven, CT : Distributed by Yale University Press, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 220-223; cover
Cavazzini, P. "La Cattive Compagnie di Valentin 'L'Amador'." Il giornale dell'arte 34, no.368 (October 2016): Vernissage suppl. 16-17. Reproduced: Vernissage suppl. p. 16
Spear, Richard E. "An Invisible Web: Art Historians Behind the Collecting of Italian Baroque Art." In Buying Baroque: Italian Seventeenth-Century Paintings Come to America. Edited by Edgar Peters Bowron, 54-65. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Frick Collection, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 54-55
Massari, Anna Maria Ambrosini, ed. Il Mestiere del Conoscitore, Roberto Longhi. Bologna: Fondazione Federico Zeri, Università di Bologna, 2017. Mentioned: p. 353; Reproduced: p. 361; cat. 8
Exhibition history

Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29, 2007 - July 8, 2007)

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007).

Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29-July 8, 2007).

Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 4, 2016-January 22, 2017); Musée du Louvre, Paris, France (February 22-May 22, 2017).

La mirabil congiuntura': Urbano VIII, i Barberini, le arti, la cultura. Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy (organizer) (March 15-July 30, 2023).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.50