John Cheere, 1709–1787, Britishafter Giambologna, Flemish, 1529–1608, Flemish, active in Italy
Title:
Samson Slaying a Philistine
Date:
between 1740 and 1770
Materials & Techniques:
Lead
Dimensions:
Overall: 79 15/16 inches (203 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund, in honor of Jane and Richard C. Levin, President of Yale University (1993-2013)
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2012.3
Gallery Label:
This scene is taken from a biblical narrative in which the Israelite hero Samson defeats an army of Philistines using only an animal bone as a weapon. The sculpture depicts the dreadful moment before Samson delivers the deadly blow to a Philistine soldier, whose contorted body is pinned to the ground. Made in Britain in the eighteenth century, it is a copy of a famous and influential sculpture carved by Giambologna, a Flemish-born sculptor active in Florence. Giambologna’s work had initially been intended as a centerpiece of a fountain but was sent abroad as a diplomatic gift and eventually entered the collection of King Charles I of England as a masterpiece of Italian Renaissance sculpture. Unlike the original, which was carved from a single block of marble, this copy was one of a number cast in lead by John Cheere, the leading producer of garden statuary in Britain at that time. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2022
