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Description: | Describes the story of Samson and Delilah in the Bible. Samson was the Israelite leader in the fight against the dominant Philistines. His great strength lay in his hair which he never cut. He married Delilah, secretly a supporter of the Philistines. She cut his hair whilst he slept enabling the Philistines to capture him and gouge out his eyes. The blind Samson waited for his hair to grow and when he had regained his strength, he pulled down the Philistines' temple killing himself and 3,000 Philistines. Samson asleep, with dark hair and beard, wearing red drapery, heis head nestled in the crook of his arm. Delilah holds scissors poised in her right hand. With her left hand, she holds a lock of hair she has already cut. Her right breast is bared and she wears a black jewelled hat over auburn hair. She looks to the left (of composition) towards a soldier dressed in red with a dark metal studded helmet and armour. He holds leg irons ready. A pugnacious looking dog in the lower left foreground. The dark background and rich palette is reminiscent of Caravaggio's followers such as Chistophano Allori . | Subjects: | religion (Samson and Delilah) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Italian (Northern Italian) School Æ Attributed to | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8311... | Go to resource |
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