Samson Rending the Lion (1450–67): Art, History and Details

Samson Rending the Lion (1450–67) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master ES (German, active 1450–67).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The biblical hero Samson appears here as a fantastical medieval courtier, proving his courage and strength by slaying a lion with his bare hands. Viewers familiar with Samson’s story would have identified the courtly maiden as the woman of Timnah, a heathen who marries Samson, but betrays him during their wedding. The idea that even history’s greatest men succumbed to the power of women was a popular one in early prints.

Object facts

• Title: Samson Rending the Lion
• Date: 1450–67
• Creator attribution: Master ES (German, active 1450–67)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1948.456

Collection credit

Grace Rainey Rogers Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Francis, Henry. "The Engravings of the Master E.S." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 38, no. 9 (November 1951): 307-211.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.