Samson and Delilah by Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia

Samson and Delilah

Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia was the first-born daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, a painter who during the latter stages of his Roman career, had the opportunity to learn the new style of painting of Caravaggio. Artemisia demonstrated her artistic talents at a very early age, and was able to perfect her skills under her father’s guidance in his Roman workshop. The year 1611 witnessed a famously tragic episode that was to mark the life of Artemisia for ever thereafter. Agostino Tassi, a close friend and partner of Orazio, taking advantage of the trust placed in him, sexually abused the young painter. Orazio reported the rape and demanded that Tassi be brought before a court of law, which was to convict him of the crime in question. This affair proved a scandal, so much so that Artemisia decided to move to Florence where she was highly successful and was commissioned to produce a number of important works.

Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia was the first-born daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, a painter who during the latter stages of his Roman career, had the opportunity to learn the new style of painting of Caravaggio. Artemisia demonstrated her artistic talents at a very early age, and was able to perfect her skills under her father’s guidance in his Roman workshop. The year 1611 witnessed a famously tragic episode that was to mark the life of Artemisia for ever thereafter. Agostino Tassi, a close friend and partner of Orazio, taking advantage of the trust placed in him, sexually abused the young painter. Orazio reported the rape and demanded that Tassi be brought before a court of law, which was to convict him of the crime in question. This affair proved a scandal, so much so that Artemisia decided to move to Florence where she was highly successful and was commissioned to produce a number of important works.

In 1616 she was accepted into the Academia del Disegno (the Academy of the Arts of Drawing) where she met various influential figures such as Galileo Galilei, who valued her work highly. After returning to Rome, and following a brief sojourn in Venice, Artemisia moved to Naples in 1630 where she was to spend the rest of her days, leaving the city just once, between 1638 and 1640, to be with her father in London. In Naples, Artemisia matured as an artist, particularly with regard to her refined use of colour and light, and her unique way of painting fabrics which were always replete with draperies and delightful details. Her works were much appreciated not only by her numerous customers but also by the other artists who lived in the city.

100 x 150 cm

Date: 1630 circa
Medium: oil on canvas

Introduction

The canvas, painted in Naples around 1630, depicts the famous biblical account recounted in the Old Testament’s Book of Judges. Samson, Judge of Israel, had put himself under a Nazirite vow, an ancient Jewish vow considered to represent a solemn consecration to God. Among the obligations under this vow, as well as giving up unclean beverages and foods, there was also that of refraining from cutting one’s hair. It was his long hair and his obedience of this vow that gave him his immense strength which enabled him to defend his people from the Philistines. In fact, it was the Philistines who in trying to discover what lay behind Samson’s incredible strength, convinced the beautiful Delilah to seduce the young Samson in order to get him to reveal his secret. The subject is related to the series of heroines often present in Artemisia’s works. Despite the fact that over the years various ideas have been advanced as to who produced the work, there are numerous, clear signs leading to the attribution of the work to the artist such as the simple, essential composition of the figures and profiles of Delilah and the handmaid.

The work is at Gallerie d'Italia - Napoli .

The canvas, painted in Naples around 1630, depicts the famous biblical account recounted in the Old Testament’s Book of Judges. Samson, Judge of Israel, had put himself under a Nazirite vow, an ancient Jewish vow considered to represent a solemn consecration to God. Among the obligations under this vow, as well as giving up unclean beverages and foods, there was also that of refraining from cutting one’s hair. It was his long hair and his obedience of this vow that gave him his immense strength which enabled him to defend his people from the Philistines. In fact, it was the Philistines who in trying to discover what lay behind Samson’s incredible strength, convinced the beautiful Delilah to seduce the young Samson in order to get him to reveal his secret. The subject is related to the series of heroines often present in Artemisia’s works. Despite the fact that over the years various ideas have been advanced as to who produced the work, there are numerous, clear signs leading to the attribution of the work to the artist such as the simple, essential composition of the figures and profiles of Delilah and the handmaid.

The work is at Gallerie d'Italia - Napoli .

Artemisia depicts the most dramatic moment in the biblical account: the one where Delilah cuts Samson’s hair, draining his strength. The three figures - Samson, Delilah and the handmaid - emerge from the darkness of the small room thanks to a warm, oblique light that illuminates Delilah’s action, a feature that is highly reminiscent of the works of Caravaggio.

Delilah features at the centre of the work, her chest facing the viewer and her head turned to observe the handmaid at her side, and in her right hand she is holding a pair of scissors while in her left hand, interwoven with the servant’s left hand, Delilah grips a lock of Samson’s hair she has just cut off.

Delilah is wearing a 17th-century style, low-cut robe decorated with a fine golden trim around the neckline. She is wearing pearl earrings, her auburn hair gathered in a bun decorated with a blue ribbon.

The key feature of the painting is the understanding look shared by Delilah and the servant, which together with the harmonious intertwining of their hands, lends the painting a certain dynamism.

The handmaid, whose chest is turned towards the viewer, is looking rather nervously towards Delilah almost as if to encourage her to finish what she is doing and move away as quickly as possible, by indicating with her right index finger an undefined point beyond the canvas.

Samson is sleeping, his head laid on his intertwined hands which in turn are resting on Delilah’s knee. The man is illuminated by a delicate light that exalts the pink colour of his face, bearing a serene expression, unaware of Delilah's betrayal.