User:Aivioz/sandbox

These are the changes I made - the images and citations are included on the live page:

• On the Samson and Delilah (Rubens) page I added the underlined sections -

Samson and Delilah (Rubens)

Samson and Delilah is a painting by the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) that is currently on display in the National Gallery. It dates from about 1609 to 1610. Two preliminary copies of the painting also exist today: an ink and wash drawing on paper, and an oil sketch on wood panel. The oil sketch is currently on display in the Cincinnati Art Museum, while the ink sketch is being held in a private collection in Amsterdam.

Narrative

The painting depicts an episode from the Old Testament story of Samson and Delilah (Judges 16). Samson was a Hebrew hero known for fighting the Philistines. Having fallen in love with Delilah, who has been bribed by the Philistines, Samson tells her the secret of his great strength: his uncut hair. Without his strength, Samson was captured by the Philistines.

Rubens portrays the moment when, having fallen asleep on Delilah's lap, a young man cuts Samson's hair. Samson and Delilah are in a dark room, which is lit mostly by a candle held by an old woman to Delilah's left. Delilah is depicted with all of her clothes, but with her breasts exposed. Her left hand is on top of Samson's right shoulder, as his left arm is draped over her legs. The man snipping Samson's hair is crossing his hands, which is a sign of betrayal. Philistine soldiers can be seen in the right-hand background of the painting.

The niche behind Delilah contains a statue of the Venus, the Goddess of love, and her son, Cupid. Notably, Cupid's mouth is bound, rather than his eyes. This statue can be taken to represent the cause of Samson's fate and the tool of Delilah's actions.

The old woman standing behind Delilah, providing further light for the scene, does not appear in the biblical narrative of Samson and Delilah. She is believed to be a procuress, and the adjacent profiles of her and Delilah may symbolize the old woman's past, and Delilah's future.

Provenance

The painting was originally commissioned by Nicolaas II Rockox, alderman of Antwerp, Belgium, for his Rockox House. In addition to being a patron, Rockox was a close personal friend of Rubens. The painting was specifically intended to be placed above a 7-foot mantleshelf, where the painting would have been seen from below.

The painting was publicly sold for charity when Rockox died in 1640, but it is unknown to whom the painting was sold. In 1700, a panel named Samson and Delilah was bought by Prince Johann Adams Andreas I. This painting was likely Rubens' painting. However, when the painting was part of the Liechtenstein Collection in Vienna, Austria in the eighteenth century, the painter was identified as Jan van den Hoecke, who was a principal assistant of Rubens in the 1630's. The painting was then sold in 1880 in Paris, where it was later found by Ludwig Burchard in 1929. Eventually, the painting sold at auction in 1980 at Christie's, purchased by the National Gallery, London for $5 million.

There has been some doubt cast over the attribution of the painting to Rubens, led by the artist and scholar of Fayum portraits Euphronsyne Doxiades. She argues that it varies in details from copies of the original made during Rubens' lifetime, that it does not employ the layering technique of glazing common in oil painting at the time and mastered by Rubens, and that its provenance can not be documented with certainty between 1641 and 1929. A dendrochronological examination of the painting, however, confirms that the painting dates to the correct period, and the attribution has been accepted by a majority of the art historical scholarly community.

The painting was earlier attributed to the Dutch painter Gerard van Honthorst, a painter who, like Rubens, worked in Rome, influenced by Caravaggio, at the start of the 17th century.

Painting materials

The painting was cleaned and investigated in the National Gallery in 1983. It is noteworthy for the masterful and elaborate painting of the draperies and for the absence of blue pigments. Rubens employed carmine (kermes) lake, lead-tin-yellow, vermilion and ochres in addition to lead white and charcoal black.

Other Appearances

Samson and Delilah by Rubens can be seen hanging above the mantlepiece in Frans Francken's Banquet at the House of Burgomaster Rockox. (picture inserted) The painting of Samson and Delilah can be seen in Frans Fracken the Younger's painting Banquet at the House of Burgomaster Rockox, where the painting is hanging above the mantlepiece.

Jacob Matham, a Haarlem printmaker, used the Cincinnatti oil sketch of Samson and Delilah as a modello for an engraving he made in circa 1613. The engraving is a reverse image of Samson and Delilah.

• On the Nicolaas II Rockox page I added this entire section -

Patronage

Rockox commissioned multiple paintings from Peter Paul Rubens. Some of these commissions were for the public, while others were for his private residence. Among those he commissioned for the public included Adoration of the Magi for the Antwerp City Hall, Descent from the Cross for the city's Arquebusiers' Guild's altar, and Doubting Thomas for Rockox's chapel. Rockox's private commissions of Rubens included Samson and Delilah. At the time of his death, Rockox had 87 works in his personal collection. Other artists represented within this collection included Anthony van Dyck, Frans Snyders, Jan van Eyck, and Pieter Bruegel. After his death, his art collection was sold publicly.

• On the Samson and Delilah general page I separated one category (labelled "other uses" into two):

Art

• There have been many depictions in art, some listed here
• The subject is one of those commonly found in the Power of women trope in art and literature
• Samson and Delilah (painting), a painting by Peter Paul Rubens
• Samson and Delilah (van Dyck, London), a painting by Anthony van Dyck
• Samson and Delilah (van Dyck, Vienna), a painting by Anthony van Dyck

Other Uses

• "Samson and Delilah" (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), an episode of the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
• Samson and Delilah, the club mascots of the Sunderland A.F.C. English football club
• "Samson and Delilah" is a short story by D.H. Lawrence in his short story collection England, My England and Other Stories