Samson Captured by the Philistines

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)

1619 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

According to the Bible, Samson, whose strength came from his hair, had his locks cut by his duplicitous lover, Delilah. This made him vulnerable to the Philistines, who bound and blinded him. The focus of Guercino’s dramatic and marvelously staged composition—a landmark in the artist’s career—is the vigorously modeled back of Samson, struggling to free himself. The painting’s theatricality, produced through the human body at extremes and a tight, complex composition, is quintessentially Baroque. It was one of several commissions from Cardinal Giacomo Serra, who also collected paintings by Rubens.

Artist

Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri)

Date

1619

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1984