Study for 'Samson and Delilah': Samson

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Drawing details

Title: Study for 'Samson and Delilah': Samson
Date: c.1858
Media: Black chalk on white paper
Dimensions: 46.0 x 29.3 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Reference number: LHO/D/0460
Inscriptions: Inscribed lower right "Study for blind Samson" and "34" in pencil. Inscribed on reverse, centre "C30" encircled, in pencil. Inscribed on reverse, upper right "New 7 / old 619" in pencil.

Interpretation

As the finished work is untraced the only clues to its appearance are the studies which survive at Leighton House Museum and The Royal Academy of Arts. This study shows the figure of Samson, blind and losing his balance, after his hair has been cut off. In the painting he was supported by a male figure to his immediate left. This model looks very similar to a model Leighton drew during life drawing classes at the Kensington Life Academy in c.1859.

Description

Half-length nude study for the figure of Samson in the painting 'Samson and Delilah' (c.1858, untraced). The figure faces the viewer, but the shoulders are twisted to the right, and the right arm reaches across the body. He has a beard, moustache and thinning hair. His eyes are closed and he is frowning. The right hand has not been drawn. 

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist to his sisters, Mrs. Augusta Matthews (n+e Augusta Neunburg Leighton, 1835-1919) and Mrs. Alexandra Orr (n+e Alexandra Leighton, 1828-1903); purchased by the Fine Art Society in 1896; collection of Leighton House Museum 

Bibliography

• Barrington, Mrs. Emilie Isabel, 'Catalogue: Lord Leighton's House and What it Contains', 1900, reprinted as part of 'A Collection of Essays on Lord Leighton and his Works with Illustrated Catalogue of the Contents of Leighton House', privately published, London, 1900-01, p.185 catalogue number 215a
• Gere, Charlotte, et al., 'A Victorian Master: Drawings by Frederic, Lord Leighton', Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, 2006, p.36 catalogue number 1.9 (illustrated)
• Ormond, Leon+e and Richard, 

Exhibition history

• 09 April 1900 to at least 1936, 'The Leighton House Collection' (intended to be a permanent display), Leighton House Museum, London, catalogue number 215a (exhibited in the passage)
• 1969, 'High Victorian Art: An Exhibition in Conjunction with the Tate Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the York Art Gallery', Leighton House Museum, London, catalogue number 138
• 19 September 2005 to 09 December 2005, 'The Leighton Drawings Project: A Preview', Leighton House Museum, London
• 08 November 2