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Samson and Delilah

1506
Not on view
Within a landscape setting, Samson lies asleep with his head upon Delilah's lap while she, holding the scissors with which she will cut his hair and deprive him of his strength, gestures towards the soldiers in the background who wait to arrest him (Judges 13:16). This autonomous drawing on colored ground is one of four by Altdorfer dated 1506. The fine pen work is characteristic of his early drawings. This drawing is annotated with an unusual, Italianate form of Altdorfer's name, also seen on two other drawings of early date, "Witches Sabbath" and "Allegory with Pax and Minerva," both of which show the influence of Mantegna's designs. This Italianism has been taken as evidence for a trip to Italy, though no such trip is documented.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Samson and Delilah
  • Artist: Albrecht Altdorfer (German, Regensburg ca. 1480–1538 Regensburg)
  • Date: 1506
  • Medium: Pen and black ink with white heightening
  • Dimensions: sheet: 6 3/4 x 4 13/16 in. (17.1 x 12.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1906
  • Object Number: 06.1051.2
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Design for a Covered Goblet, Albrecht Altdorfer German, Etching
Design for a Covered Goblet
Albrecht Altdorfer
n.d.
Icones Sacrae
Albrecht Altdorfer
Georg Ludwig Frobenius
1604
Ewer with a Siren, Albrecht Altdorfer German, Etching
Ewer with a Siren
Albrecht Altdorfer
n.d.
Covered Goblet with Grotesques on a White Background, Albrecht Altdorfer German, Etching
Covered Goblet with Grotesques on a White Background
Albrecht Altdorfer
n.d.
Jael and Sisera, Albrecht Altdorfer German, Woodcut
Jael and Sisera
Albrecht Altdorfer
1520–25

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