Samson and Delilah

1766

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni Italian, 1708-1787

On View

European: Grand Tour of Italy, Level 2, South Wing

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

By mid-eighteenth century Pompeo Batoni prevailed as the leading portraitist in Rome catering to an elite clientele of wealthy tourists from the British Isles. Decades earlier, he had launched his career painting historical and biblical subjects, and he continued to depict such subjects in a dignified, classicizing style throughout his career. In Samson and Delilah, Batoni depicts the crucial moment of betrayal in the Old Testament tale. Succumbing to the Philistine woman’s flattery and strong drink, Samson breaks his vow and shares the secret of his strength: “A razor has never come upon my head...if I be shaved, then my strength will leave me” (Judg. 16:17) Quickly, Delilah shears his long hair and summons her guard who burst into the chamber to seize him. Delilah remains serene with Samson, now powerless, recumbent at her feet. Both figures appear calm amidst the chaos and are forged in the noble model of ancient statuary. From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title Samson and Delilah

Artwork Date 1766

Artist Pompeo Girolamo Batoni

Life Dates 1708-1787

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Italian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Framed: 93 1/2 × 68 1/4 × 3 11/16 inches (237.5 × 173.4 × 9.4 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2003.31

Markings

Signed Signed and dated, on the frame of the bed, at the lower right: P. BATONI PINXIT/ROMAE ANNO 1766

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

private collection (Europe)

1987-2003, (Matthiesen Gallery, London, England)

2003-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

The Settecento: Italian Rococo and Early Neo-Classical Paintings, 1700–1800. Exh. cat., Matthiesen Gallery. London, 1987, pp. 92–94, no. 16 (ill.), pl. 17 (ill.).

Brigstocke, Hugh. "The Settecento at Matthiesen, London." The Burlington Magazine 129, no. 1017 (1987): pp. 820, 821, fig. 38 (ill.).

"New Acquisitions." Bulletin of the DIA 78, no. 3/4 (2004): pp. 24, 28 (ill.).

Bissell, R. Ward, Andria Derstine and Dwight Miller. Masters of Italian Baroque Painting: The Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2005, pp. 11, 26–27, no. 8 (ill.).

Bowron, Edgar Peters. Pompeo Batoni: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, vol. 1. New Haven, 2016, pp. 382–383, no. 309 (ill.).

Derstine, Andria. "The Detroit Institute of Arts and Italian Baroque Painting." In Buying Baroque: Italian Seventeenth-Century Paintings Come to America, ed. Edgar Peters Bowron. University Park, 2017, p. 102.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, Samson and Delilah, 1766, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 2003.31.