(Pratovecchio 1592–1664 Florence)
Samson and Dalila,
oil on canvas, originally octagonal, enlarged, 96 x 87.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
probably Domenico Corsini, Florence;
Private European collection

Literature:
probably S. B. Bartolozzi, Vita di Jacopo Vignali pittor fiorentino, Florence, 1753, p. XXI

We are grateful to Sandro Bellesi for confirming the attribution on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph and for his help in cataloguing the present painting.

Belllesi has dated the present work to the first half of the 1630s and he believes that it is almost certainly the work mentioned in Vignali’s biography by Sebastian Benedict Bartolozzi (see S. B. Bartolozzi, Vita di Jacopo Vignali pittor fiorentino, Florence, 1753, p. XXI). According to this text Vignali depicted several scenes from the Old Testament including paintings of Jacob the Patriarch and Samson and Delilah as the result of a commission from Domenico Corsini.

The identification of the present painting as the work belonging to Domenico Corsini and mentioned by Bartolozzi is confirmed by stylistic similarities with other paintings mentioned among the painter's works from the early thirties, in particular the Good Samaritan, today in the Museo di San Marco, monogrammed and dated 1630 (see S. Bellesi, in: Luce e Ombra. Caravaggismo e naturalismo nella pittura toscana del Seicento, exhibition catalogue, curated by P. Carofano, Pontedera, Pisa, 2005, pp. 50-53, no. 17, with earlier bibliography), and the painting of Ruggiero found by Leon and the sorceress Melissa in the Palatine Gallery in Florence, documented from 1636 (E. Fumagalli, L’arme e gli amori. La poesia di Ariosto, Tasso e Guarini nell’arte fiorentina del Seicento, exhibition catalogue, curated by E. Fumagalli, M. Rossi and R. Spinelli, Florence, Livorno, 2001, pp. 222-223, n. 86; with earlier bibliography). Samson’s head is comparable to that of the wounded man in the Good Samaritan, as well as to the figure Vignali reused in the painting Zerbino, Isabella and the Hermit (see S. Bellesi, op. cit., 2005, pp. 50 and 52). Also typical of Vignali's work in the 1630s is the face of Delilah, which is comparable to other female characters by the artist from the period. The most pertinent is the figure of Rebecca in Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well, Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Prato, and the princess in the Infant Moses playing with the Pharaoh’s crown, Sinebrychoffin Taide Museum, Helsinki (see S. Bellesi, Catalogo dei pittori fiorentini del ‘600 e ‘700. Biografie e opere, vol. III, Florence 2009, figs. 1168 and 1173).

Originally from Pratovecchio, near Arezzo, Jacopo Vignali arrived in Florence at a young age, where he entered the studio of Matteo Rosselli. Vignali became an independent artist around 1616, the year he graduated from the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, distinguishing himself in his early works with a refined eclectic style gained mainly from the teachings of Rosselli and the post-Caravaggio manner, which was introduced into Tuscany at that time by Bartolomeo Manfredi and Gerrit Van Honthorst. From the mid-1620s, already master to the young Carlo Dolci, the artist intensified his interests in devotional painting and played a prominent role in ecclesiastical commissions together with Francesco Curradi. The superior quality of his paintings would lead to numerous commissions. During his mature period he demonstrated original approaches to the interpretation of nature as well as incorporating the sensuality which derived for the work Francesco Furini.

The present work depicts one of the best-known episodes of Samson, from the Old Testament Book of Judges (13-16). Samson was endowed with a supernatural power, was a prominent member of the Israelite community and fell in love with Delilah, from the enemy population of Philistines. After discovering that Samson's extraordinary strength lay in his hair, which had never been cut since his birth, Delilah revealed the secret to the Philistines in return for an ample reward. They in turn contrived a plan with Delilah to capture the powerful Israelite. After making Samson sleep, Delilah summoned a Philistine to cut the hair of the hated enemy. Now without strength, when Samson awoke he was imprisoned and blinded by the Philistines, who sentenced him to turn a millstone. However, having regained his power, Samson killed many enemies and at the same time brought about his own death. The present composition depicts the moments of Delilah’s betrayal: supporting Samson's head in her hands, she facilitates the work of the Philistine, who is intent on cutting the hair of the sleeping hero.