Samson Bringing Honey To His Parents

This is an oil on canvas depicting Samson, on the right of the canvas, handing his parents a block of honey. The canvas is divided vertically into two halves. The left side shows Samson's parents standing in front of a brown stone building. They are seen from the waist up in seventeenth century costume. On the right side is Samson, almost silhouetted as his face is in the shadows and behind him is a light blue sky with clouds. There is specific light on the parents' faces, but Samson is deliberately eclipsed. He has brown wavy shoulder length hair. All three figures are focused on the honeycomb in Samson's right hand as he places in his father's hands. Less noticeable is the honeycomb still remaining in Samson's left hand; the central focus is left foreground, which shows three hands and a honeycomb.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino
Italian (1591-1666)
Samson Bringing Honey To His Parents, ca. 1625-1626
Oil on canvas
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in honor of the Board of Trustees 1977-1985
European Art
Location: Exhibit, Gallery 218
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Dimensions: H: 39 3/4 in, W: 59 in, FH: 52 in, FW: 70 3/4 in
Object ID: 71.521

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Description
Exhibitions
Publications
Provenance

Publications

Bertina S. Manning. PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR.: AN EXHIBITION ORGANIZED BY THE PORTLAND ART MUSEUM, OREGON. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 34.
Bertina S. Manning. CHRYSLER ART MUSEUM OF PROVINCETOWN INAUGURAL EXHIBITION. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown. 07/1958: plate 27; pp. 16-17, 67.
Exhibition catalog. 1550-1650, A CENTURY OF MASTERS FROM THE COLLECTION OF WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR. Fort Worth: Fort Worth Art Center. 1962. No. 14.
Robert L. Manning. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR. Norfolk: Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science. 1967. No. 27.
IL GUERCINO, exhibition catalog, Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna, 1968, no. 59.
Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya, TREASURES FROM THE CHRYLSER MUSEUM AT NORFOLK AND WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR., exhibiton catalogue, Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, 1977.
Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. VERONESE TO FRANZ KLINE: MASTERWORKS FROM THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM AT NORFOLK. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 1978. No. 3, 15-16, 40.
Denys Sutton. "Aspects of British Collecting, Part II: From Rome to Naples," APOLLO. 12/1982: Fig. 24, p. 418.
Jefferson C. Harrison, THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM HANDBOOK OF THE EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN COLLECTIONS: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURE AND DRAWINGS (Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), No. 22, p. 30; Color ill. p. 30.
Sandra Costa, "Un peintre pour la France, Le Guerchin", L'OBJET D'ART, L'ESTAMPILLE, No. 251 (October 1991), color ill. pp. 46-47.
Michael Helston and Tom Henry, GUERCINO IN BRITAIN: PAINTINGS FROM BRITISH COLLECTIONS (London: National Gallery Publications Litmited and The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd., 1991), pp. 5-6; Fig. 3, p. 6 (b/w).
Sir Denis Mahon, et al., GIOVANNI FRANCESCO BARBIERI: IL GUERCINO, 1591-1666 (Bologna: Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 1991), Cat. No. 65, pp. 186-7; Color ill. p. 187.
Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, e al., GIOVANNI FRANCESCO BARBIERI: IL GUERCINO, 1591-1666 (Bologna and Frankfurt: Nuova Alfa Editoriale and Schirn Kunsthalle, 1991), Cat. No. 38, pp. 230-231; Color ill. p. 231.
IL GUERCINO (1591-1666), exhibition catalog, Pinocoteca Nazionale, Bologna; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; and National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1991-1992.
Sir Denis Mahon, et al., GUERCINO: MASTER PAINTER OF THE BAROQUE (Washington, D.C.:National Gallery of Art, 1992), No. 30, pp. 242-243; Color ill. p. 243.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino
Italian, 1591-1666
Samson Bringing Honey to His Parents, ca. 1625-26
Oil on canvas, 39¾" x 59"

Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in Honor of the Board of Trustees 1977-1985, 71.521

The story of Samson illustrates the Biblical theme of God working His will through chosen
mortals. As related in the Bible (Judges 14: 5-9), Samson killed a lion with his bare hands (the
event is depicted in the background, below Samson's right arm). Discovering later that bees had
filled the carcass with honey, Samson returned home to share the honeycomb with his parents.
Subsequent events in his life eventually led Samson to a self-sacrificing victory over Israel's
enemies, the Philistines.

This rare subject had a special importance for the Barberini family, who commissioned
Guercino's painting: their coat of arms featured three bees, which appear here in formation
against the deep blue sky. When Cardinal Maffeo Barberini was elected as Pope Urban VIII in
1623, the Barberini became Rome's leading art patrons.

Guercino had helped to create the Roman Baroque style. But with his return to his native Cento
(near Bologna), his half-length compositions became increasingly restrained. In this picture,
golden light and velvety shadows model solid, monumental forms, while surface textures -
wrinkled skin, luxuriant hair, and satin sleeves - are depicted with consummate skill. Guercino
paints hands capable of movement: graceful overlapping gestures unite Samson's family in a
moment that feels almost sacramental.