1545
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Samson and Delilah is a 1545 by Hans Brosamer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a man asleep on a woman’s lap while she cuts his hair. Soldiers creep in behind them. A big cup and jug sit on the floor—wine helped put him to sleep. This is the Bible’s Samson and Delilah. His long hair gave him strength, and she betrayed him for money. The scene feels crowded but quiet, like a play frozen on stage. The artist packed every corner with clues: the scissors, the soldiers, the spilled wine. Look up the subject of Germany next—this painting shows how artists there told Bible stories in the 1500s.
Samson was a man of immense strength and a Nazarite, an Israelite who took a pious oath not to cut his hair or drink alcohol. Bribed by the Philistines (enemies of the Israelites), Delilah—Samson’s lover—cut his hair after discovering that it was the source of his strength. In Hans Brosamer’s rendition, Samson has fallen asleep on Delilah’s lap as she cuts his hair while the Philistines enter. A large chalice and ewer nearby reveal the role of wine in his slumber. Hans Burgkmair I similarly emphasized the importance of wine to the plot with a single beaker. The story was popular in Protestant…
Samson's sandals may be intended to signal his status as an ancient warrior, but with the exception of Samson's footwear, Samson and Delilah are dressed like 16th-century Europeans.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Hans Brosamer was a German draughtsman, printmaker and painter of the Renaissance period. His life has left hardly any documentary trace, other than his prints, but he was active in Fulda from 1536 to 1545, and later worked in Erfurt.
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