The Capture of Samson

Oil on panelPeter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)/1609–10

Description

This panel, made as a sketch for a larger painting commissioned by the mayor of Antwerp, Nicolas Rockox, demonstrates the influence of the ancient and modern art Peter Paul Rubens studied in Italy. The subject comes from a story in the Hebrew Bible in which the mighty Samson awakes to find that his lover, Delilah, has cut off his hair, the source of his strength. Rubens drew from ancient Roman sculpture for Samson’s contorted pose as he is captured by soldiers, while the strong contrast of light and dark recalls the work of 16th-century Italian painter Tintoretto—for example, Tarquin and Lucretia.

Provenance

Probably in the collection of the artist, Antwerp, until his death in 1640 and then included in a large lot of oil sketches in his estate sale, 1642 [Jeffrey M. Muller, “Oil-Sketches in Rubens’s Collection,” Burlington Magazine 117 (1975), pp. 374-75, and Held 1980, p. 11, argue that the oil sketches were disposed of in this way]. Frank T. Sabin Gallery, London, by 1914 [Arundel Club 1914, no. 14]; sold through W.R. Valentiner to the Art Institute, November 1923 [as by Van Dyck, according to a letter of August 1, 1923 from Valentiner to Robert Harshe in Art Institute archives and receipt from Sabin dated November 5, 1923, copies in curatorial file].

Dimensions

50.4 × 66.4 cm (19 3/4 × 26 1/8 in.)

Source

The Art Institute of Chicago

Movement / Period

17th Century

Accession No

8953

Official Citations

[The Art Institute of Chicago Official Record][Full Resolution Image]

Curatorial Affinity Stream

Continuing the Universe of Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)

17th Century • Flanders • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries

Continuous Discovery