Samson and the Lion

Although David Vinckboons made only three prints himself, his designs were the basis for more prints than any other Netherlandish artist in the early seventeen century. Pieter Serwouters was responsible for translating more than two dozen of these compositions into print. The present work is based on a story from the Hebrew Bible, Judges 14:5-7. As a young man, Samson traveled with his parents to Timnath, a city in Canaan, populated by the Philistines, who were considered an enemy tribe. He wanted to marry a Philistine woman he had met, but his parents were against the idea. While walking through the vineyards he was surprised by a young lion who roared at him. Vinckboons shows Samson astride the lion pulling his jaws apart with his bare hands, eventually killing the animal. At the left rear is a scene from later in this story, where Samson is taking honey from bees that had nested in the lion’s carcass.


The print might have been intended as a pair to David and the Bear. The two are published in the same year and are about the same size. In both the young men are fighting fierce animals with just their hands and their actions are a prelude to an eventual contest with the Philistine enemy, which their elders are trying to prevent.


The composition is based on a drawing in reverse in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg (inv. no.22647).