Lured by a bribe from the Philistines, Israel’s enemies, Delilah agreed to collaborate in the capture of Samson – the Israelite hero of the Old Testament, and her lover. She cut off the source of his legendary strength – his hair – while he slept (Judges 16: 18–21). Her treachery is underlined by the Latin inscription carved into the tree: ‘woman is three times worse than the devil himself.’

A luscious vine, heavy with ripe grapes, encircles the tree, which has no leaves of its own. The grapes may refer to the wine of the Eucharist, which was drunk at Mass and thought to transform into Christ’s blood. Like Samson, Christ was betrayed and handed over to his enemies; unlike Samson, his death was believed to redeem humanity of sin.

Mantegna made a number of images of famous women from the Bible and classical literature, painting them to look like ancient stone or bronze reliefs set against coloured marble backdrops.

PID Details

Details for: 0FQW-0001-0000-0000 - Samson and Delilah (object) - raw {JSON}