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Mar 1, 2010

Jan 22, 2007

Mar 1, 2010

Samson and Delilah

c. 1616

Gerrit van Honthorst

(Dutch, 1590–1656)

Netherlands, 17th century

Oil on canvas

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.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1968.23

Location

217 Italian Baroque

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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.

Provenance

After 1621-at least 1701

Possibly Marchése Tommaso Raggi [1595/6-1676], Genoa and Rome, and descendents ¹

before 1967

[possibly] in the collection of the Ruspoli family, Rome, until sold to an art dealer ²

until 1967

(Dealer, Rome, sold to the Hazlitt Gallery)

Until 1968

(Hazlitt Gallery, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1968-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Provenance Footnotes

¹In his dissertation, Jan Miel (1599-1644): a Flemish painter in Rome, Thomas Kren suggests that a painting of Dalida (Delilah was referred to as Dalida in Chaucer) by Honthorst that was lent to an exhibition at San Salvatore in Lauro in 1701 by Raggi’s heirs may be the CMA picture.

²According to the dealer who sold the painting to the Hazlitt Gallery, the Honthorst had been in the collection of the Ruspoli family, a noble Italian family with origins traceable to the thirteenth century.

Citations

Judson, J. Richard. Gerrit Van Honthorst: A Discussion of His Position in Dutch Art. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1959. Mentioned:p. 147, no. 8

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums April- June 1968." The Art Quarterly XXXI, no. 4 (1968): 433-456. Mentioned: P. 445; reproduced: P. 437

Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 117 archive.org

“La Chronique Des Arts: Les Oeuvres d’art Entrés Dans Les Musées Du Monde Entier En 1968.” Gazette Des Beaux Arts, February 1969, 1–118. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 59

Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. "Gerard Van Honthorst: Samson and Delilah." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 9 (1969): 332-44. Reproduced: p. 335 www.jstor.org

“Recent Accessions.” Apollo: The International Magazine of Art & Antiques 91 (May 1970): 400. Reproduced: P. 400, no. 11

"Museen und Austellungen." Pantheon XXX, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 1972): 54-73. Mentnioned: P. 69

Nicolson, Benedict. "Caravaggesques at Cleveland." The Burlington Magazine 114, no. 827 (February 1972): 113-12. Mentioned: P. 114 www.jstor.org

Kahr, Madlyn. "Rembrandt and Delilah." The Art Bulletin 55, no. 2 (June 1973): 240-59. Mentioned: P. 241, n. 8; reproduced: P. 243, fig. 4 www.jstor.org

Spear, Richard E. Caravaggio and His Followers. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. Mentioned: p. 110, cat. 35; Reproduced: p. 111

Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 153 archive.org

Nicolson, Benedict. The International Caravaggesque Movement: Lists of Pictures by Caravaggio and His Followers Throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650. Oxford: Phaidon, 1979. Mentioned: 58; Reproduced: pl. 55 (detail)

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. 244; Reproduced: p. 245

Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. 6 vols Landau: Edition PVA, 1983-. Mentioned: vol. 3, p. 1778 (under no. 1183 [Lievens])

Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington, DC: Netherlands-American Amity Trust, 1986. Reproduced: p. 338, fig. 89

Muller-Hofstede, Justus. "Artificial Light in Honthorst and Terbrugghen: Form and Iconography." In Hendrick ter Brugghen und die Nachfolger Caravaggios in Holland, 13-44. Rüdiger Klessmann, ed. Braunschweig: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, 1987. Mentioned: p. 26; Reproduced: p. 27, fig. 25.

Judson, J. Richard. "New Light on Honthorst." In Hendrick ter Brugghen und die Nachfolger Caravaggios in Holland, 111-120 . Rüdiger Klessmann, ed. Braunschweig: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, 1987. Mentioned: pp. 111, 116; Reproduced: fig. 140

Klessmann, Rüdiger. Hendrick ter Brugghen und die Nachfolger Caravaggios in Holland. Braunschweig: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, 1987. Reproduced: P. 26, fig. 25; Mentioned: n. 125

Nicolson, Benedict, and Luisa Vertova. Caravaggism in Europe. 3 vols. Torino: U. Allemandi, 1989. Mentioned: vol. 1, pp. 41, 122, 221; Reproduced: vol. 3, pls. 1247, 1248.

Kren, Thomas, and Jan Miel. Jan Miel (1599-1644): A Flemish Painter in Rome. 1989.

Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: p. 108

Kupferberg, Herbert. "Song of Solomon," Stagebill (February 1998): 12-16.
Reproduced: p. 12

Sinners & Saints: Darkness and Light : Caravaggio and His Dutch and Flemish Followers. Dennis P. Weller, Leonard J. Slatkes, and Roger B. Ward. Exh. cat. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned: pp. 128-130, cat no. 19; reproduced: p. 221, fig. 3,

Papi, Gianni. Gherardo delle Notti: Gerrit Honthorst in Italia. Soncino: Edizioni dei Soncino, 1999. Mentioned: 161-162; reproduced: pl. 39

Judson, J. Richard, and Rudolf E. O. Ekkart. Gerrit Van Honthorst, 1592-1656. Doornspijk, The Netherlands: Davaco, 1999. Mentioned: pp. 54-55, cat. no. 10; Reproduced: pls 4, 4a-b.

The Genius of Rome, 1592-1623. Edited by Beverly Louise Brown. Exh cat. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2001. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 304-305 (detail),313 cat. no 116.

Wheelock, Arthur K., Stephanie Dickey, and Jan Lievens. Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered. Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 2008. Reproduced: p. 110, fig. 1

Hilaire, Michel, and Axel Hémery. Corps et ombres: Caravage et le caravagisme européen. Exh. cat. Musée des Augustins, Toulouse (June 23-Oct. 14, 2012); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Nov. 11, 2012-Feb. 10, 2013); and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, (Mar. 8-June 16, 2013). Milan: 5 continents, 2012. Mentioned: p. 228 no. 52; Reproduced:p. 229. p.

Caravaggio and His Legacy.J. Patrice Marandel, Gianni Papi, et al. Exh. cat. Los Angeles Museum of Art and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, in association with DelMonico Books / Prestel, 2012. Mentioned: pp. 121, 163; Reproduced: p. 120

Neuman, Robert. Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture. Boston, MA : Pearson, 2013. Mentioned & reproduced: p. 186-187

Schnackenburg, Bernhard. Jan Lievens: Friend and Rival of the Young Rembrandt: with a Catalogue Raisonné of His Early Leiden Work 1623-1632. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2016. Reproduced: p. 73, fig. 88; Mentioned: p. 74

Osnabrugge, Marije. The Neapolitan Lives and Careers of Netherlandish Immigrant Painters (1575-1655). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019. Mentioned: p. 207; Reproduced: p. 208

Exhibition history

Caravaggio and His Followers, The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 30, 1971-January 2, 1972), no. 35.

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

[possibly] San Salvatore in Lauro, Rome (1701) ("Dalida" by "Monsù Gerardo", lent by the family of the Marchese Tommaso Raggi, Rome).

Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).

Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10-September 2, 1973).

Sinners and Saints, Darkness and Light: Caravaggio and His Dutch and Flemish Followers. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC (organizer) (September 29-December 13, 1998); Milwaukee Art Museum (January 29-April 18, 1999); Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH (May 8-July 18, 1999).

The Genius of Rome, 1592-1623. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (January 20-April 16, 2001); Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, Italy (May 2-July 31, 2001).

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

Le Caravagisme Européen. Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France (organizer) (June 22-October 14, 2012).

Bodies and Shadows: Caravaggio and His Legacy. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (November 11, 2012-February 10, 2013).

Gherardo delle Notti. Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze, Italy (organizer) (February 10-May 24, 2015).

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{{cite web|title=Samson and Delilah|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.23|author=Gerrit van Honthorst|year=c. 1616|access-date=29 May 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Samson and Delilah

Samson and Delilah

Gerrit van Honthorst

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