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Source Description
In this scene, Samson stands on top of four slaughtered Philistines. With both hands he holds the spear that he used to kill them. Samson was a traditional emblem of virtue during the Renaissance period, and his slaying of the Philistines symbolized the triumph of good over evil. This subject is representative of maiolica wares painted in the “istoriato” style, which focused on stories from Classical antiquity or the Bible that provided a lesson. The exaggerated musculature and twisted bodies of Samson and the Philistines reflects contemporary Mannerist painting styles, and the violent action is set off by the serenity of the landscape.The back of the plate is stained with green and decorated with three concentric yellow circles; in the center an inscription painted in blue, "desanson ei fili/stei" identifies the scene depicted on the plate's obverse side.This plate was likely made in the workshop of Girolamo Lanfranco the elder, a maiolica painter from the town of Pesaro
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
8033
label
Plate with Samson Killing the Philistines
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
8033
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Plate with Samson Killing the Philistines
description
In this scene, Samson stands on top of four slaughtered Philistines. With both hands he holds the spear that he used to kill them. Samson was a traditional emblem of virtue during the Renaissance period, and his slaying of the Philistines symbolized the triumph of good over evil. This subject is representative of maiolica wares painted in the “istoriato” style, which focused on stories from Classical antiquity or the Bible that provided a lesson. The exaggerated musculature and twisted bodies of Samson and the Philistines reflects contemporary Mannerist painting styles, and the violent action is set off by the serenity of the landscape.The back of the plate is stained with green and decorated with three concentric yellow circles; in the center an inscription painted in blue, "desanson ei fili/stei" identifies the scene depicted on the plate's obverse side.This plate was likely made in the workshop of Girolamo Lanfranco the elder, a maiolica painter from the town of Pesaro
provenance
H. Wencke Collection, Hamburg [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [no. 15] (?); Seligmann, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, May 7, 1908, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1540-1550 (Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Ceramics
plates
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
4.1
height
29.8
dimensionsRaw
1 5/8 x 11 3/4 in. (4.1 x 29.8 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Inscription] On the back
between the footring
in blue: desanson ei fili / stei; [Previous Collection inv. no.] 15
med
earthenware with tin glaze (maiolica)
creator_ids
5021
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
e7883c5f5965f44c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
dc3f73858f08e3a9
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no