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Samson carrying the Gates of Gaza

Maker

(artist)
1596-1674

Title

Samson carrying the Gates of Gaza

Date of Production

(circa) 1630 - 1640

Medium

black ink, grey wash, white bodycolour, on grey-brown laid paper, laid down on a historic support

Dimensions

Height: 39.5 cm
Width: 31 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2965

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords




Related Works

Expulsion from Paradise Abraham entertaining the angels Sacrifice of Isaac Rebecca offering a drink to Eliezer at the well Esau selling his birthright to Jacob Joseph and Potiphar's wife Finding of Moses Moses striking the rock to give to drink to the children of Israel Worship of the Golden Calf Samson pulling down the Temple Esther before Ahasuerus Elijah and the ravens Trials of Job Three men in the furnace Belshazzar's feast Healing of Tobias' father

Label Text

The Old Testament tells of the invincibly strong Samson (Judges 16,1-3) who visited the Philistine town of Gaza where he spent the night with a harlot. He escaped from being murdered by getting up at midnight and carrying away the city gate. Bramer, a contemporary of Rembrandt, illustrates this episode with bold brushstrokes and an acute sense of the story’s ambiguity as he shows the womanizer naked from behind, following his heroic path despite having just stepped out of the prostitute’s bed.

Provenance

possibly a private collection in Freiburg im Breisgau; Gutekunst & Klipstein (Bern), November 1938, no. 35; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Unseen, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/01/2015-29/03/2015

Literature

Bettler Diebe Unterwelt. Leonaert Bramer illustriert spanische Romane, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich Munich 2013
p. 36
fig. 31 on p. 36

Michiel Plomp, Jane Ten Brink Goldsmith, Paul Huys Janssen, Michiel Kersten, John Michael Montias, and Adrienne Quarles von Ufford, Leonaert Bramer (1596-1674): Ingenious Painter and Draughtsman in Rome and Delft, exh. cat., Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft, 1994
p. 312 under no. 1

Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, Leonard Bramer: brush drawings in ink, 1938; XXXIX
no. 35

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: upper right corner, grey ink: "33". Support (historic), Rectro: lower left, graphite, Witt number: "2965"; lower left, graphite, circled, Gutekunst number: "35"; lower centre, graphite: "Simson trägt die Stadt-tore von Gaza auf den Berg / vor Hebron Richter 16. //".

Collector's mark: none.

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