Samson and Delilah
| Reference: | S30475 |
| Author | Giuseppe CALETTI |
| Year: | 1650 ca. |
| Measures: | 150 x 130 mm |
€1,500.00
| Reference: | S30475 |
| Author | Giuseppe CALETTI |
| Year: | 1650 ca. |
| Measures: | 150 x 130 mm |
€1,500.00
Description
Etching and engraving, circa 1650, signed at lower left.
A very good impression, printed on contemporary laid paper, with thin margins, perfect condition.
The scene depicts Delilah seated on a tree trunk at right, in profile to left, cutting the sleeping Samson's hair. judge Samson sleeps in the lap of his Philistine lover Delilah, who shears a lock of hair from his head to drain his superhuman strength. A group of soldiers emerges from the background.
The subject is from the Old Testament Book of Judges (16: 17-20) which tells the story of the Jewish hero Samson and his love for Delilah. The Philistines - Samson’s sworn enemies - bribed Delilah with 1,100 pieces of silver to tell them where his strength lay in the hope that they could eventually defeat and capture him.
After much persistence, Delilah discovered that his hair was the source of his power, and informed the Philistines.Rather than killing him, the Philistines preferred to humiliate him by gouging out his eyes and subjecting him to hard labor in a Gaza prison. As he slaved at grinding grain, his hair began to grow. During a pagan sacrificial ritual, the Philistines had gathered in Gaza to celebrate. As was their custom, they paraded their prized enemy prisoner into the temple to entertain the jeering crowds. Samson braced himself between the two central support pillars of the temple, he said “Let me die with the Philistines!” and pushed with all his might. Down came the temple, killing Samson and all of the people in it. Through his death, Samson destroyed more of his enemies in this one sacrificial act, than he had previously killed in all the battles of his life.
This work, already in ‘800, was celebrated as the best among the prints engraved by Caletti
Literature
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Bartsch, XX, 132, 4; Le Blanc, 4; TIB 44/20, 4.
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Giuseppe CALETTI (Cremona 1595 – Ferrara 1660)
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A little-known, minor painter whose biography is incomplete, Giuseppe Caletti was active in Ferrara from about 1630 until his death in 1660. He is considered one of the painters of that city, although some of his prints were signed "Ioseffo Cremonesi" implying that Cremona was the city of his birth. His best work is dated in the 1630s, when he was strongly influenced by Guercino.
In its golden colors, luminosity, and soft brush strokes, Caletti's painting style reflects his admiration for sixteenth-century Venetian painters. He displays his nostalgia for the past in small, romantically costumed figures, often placed in naturalistic landscape settings. A narrative cycle of the story of John the Baptist, paint- ed on seventeen small horizontal panels, matches work of the early Renaissance in feeling, recalling fifteenth- century predella panels. The straightforward approach to his subjects and their dreamy, contemplative qualities also connect Caletti to the Venetian past. In modern times his paintings have been attributed to Titian, Giorgione, and Dosso Dossi, and it seems likely that in his own time his work was intentionally presented as theirs, made for an antiquarian market that arose to meet the demands of collectors of early Venetian painting.
Caletti made about twenty etchings in a delightfully personal and easily recognizable style. The feathery draftsmanship of these prints and of his drawings closely resembles that of his far greater contemporary, Guercino, who came from Cento, not far from Ferrara. Paintings by Caletti have also been mistaken for Guercino's.
The artist's harsh subject matter sometimes seems in conflict with his luminous, painterly style and innocent mood. A commonly depicted theme is the story of David and Goliath; a nineteenth-century historian of Ferrara stated that he had seen more than thirty paintings of the subject. There is not one Madonna and Child among Caletti's etchings, but Old Testament subjects representing the theme of undoing are seen frequently in such prints as Samson and Delilah (Bartsch 4), Judith with the Head of Holofernes, and three versions of David with the Head of Goliath. One of Caletti's more common prints is the plague-infected Saint Roch. Genre subjects include a demure, female nude bather glimpsed from behind; a short-bearded young man gazing out from behind a large beret (perhaps a self- portrait); and a shovel-brimmed hat all but hiding a face.
Caletti provided landscape settings for his figures which were economical but artful: a well-drawn tree, a cloud with an interesting shape, a group of towers, or a building reflected on the surface of a lake or river. He was also a painter of landscapes.
Good impressions of his etchings are rare, since the plates were usually lightly bitten, contained few true darks, and were often printed a bit dryly. Saint Roch was an exception and printed strongly even in its later state, where the saint's name was boldly engraved at the bottom, giving the print the appearance of a popular devotional image. Caletti's etchings resemble little sketches in pen and ink, and the artist's involvement with the act of drawing is borne out by a series of plates intended to serve as models for drawing instruction. In their directness, humanity, and gentle humor, Caletti's etchings remain appealing and accessibile to this days.
|
Literature
|
Bartsch, XX, 132, 4; Le Blanc, 4; TIB 44/20, 4.
|
Giuseppe CALETTI (Cremona 1595 – Ferrara 1660)
|
A little-known, minor painter whose biography is incomplete, Giuseppe Caletti was active in Ferrara from about 1630 until his death in 1660. He is considered one of the painters of that city, although some of his prints were signed "Ioseffo Cremonesi" implying that Cremona was the city of his birth. His best work is dated in the 1630s, when he was strongly influenced by Guercino.
In its golden colors, luminosity, and soft brush strokes, Caletti's painting style reflects his admiration for sixteenth-century Venetian painters. He displays his nostalgia for the past in small, romantically costumed figures, often placed in naturalistic landscape settings. A narrative cycle of the story of John the Baptist, paint- ed on seventeen small horizontal panels, matches work of the early Renaissance in feeling, recalling fifteenth- century predella panels. The straightforward approach to his subjects and their dreamy, contemplative qualities also connect Caletti to the Venetian past. In modern times his paintings have been attributed to Titian, Giorgione, and Dosso Dossi, and it seems likely that in his own time his work was intentionally presented as theirs, made for an antiquarian market that arose to meet the demands of collectors of early Venetian painting.
Caletti made about twenty etchings in a delightfully personal and easily recognizable style. The feathery draftsmanship of these prints and of his drawings closely resembles that of his far greater contemporary, Guercino, who came from Cento, not far from Ferrara. Paintings by Caletti have also been mistaken for Guercino's.
The artist's harsh subject matter sometimes seems in conflict with his luminous, painterly style and innocent mood. A commonly depicted theme is the story of David and Goliath; a nineteenth-century historian of Ferrara stated that he had seen more than thirty paintings of the subject. There is not one Madonna and Child among Caletti's etchings, but Old Testament subjects representing the theme of undoing are seen frequently in such prints as Samson and Delilah (Bartsch 4), Judith with the Head of Holofernes, and three versions of David with the Head of Goliath. One of Caletti's more common prints is the plague-infected Saint Roch. Genre subjects include a demure, female nude bather glimpsed from behind; a short-bearded young man gazing out from behind a large beret (perhaps a self- portrait); and a shovel-brimmed hat all but hiding a face.
Caletti provided landscape settings for his figures which were economical but artful: a well-drawn tree, a cloud with an interesting shape, a group of towers, or a building reflected on the surface of a lake or river. He was also a painter of landscapes.
Good impressions of his etchings are rare, since the plates were usually lightly bitten, contained few true darks, and were often printed a bit dryly. Saint Roch was an exception and printed strongly even in its later state, where the saint's name was boldly engraved at the bottom, giving the print the appearance of a popular devotional image. Caletti's etchings resemble little sketches in pen and ink, and the artist's involvement with the act of drawing is borne out by a series of plates intended to serve as models for drawing instruction. In their directness, humanity, and gentle humor, Caletti's etchings remain appealing and accessibile to this days.
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