Delilah preparing to cut Samson's hair with scissors in her right hand, below her chest are the head and shoulders of the sleeping Samson
ca. 1629
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 6 5/8 x 4 9/16 in. (16.8 x 11.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.163.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate engraving *Delilah preparing to cutson's hair with scissors in right hand, below her are the head and shoulders the sleeping Samson*, French artist Claude Mellan captures a pivotal biblical moment from the Book of Judges. Created around 1629, this sheet measures just 6 5/8 x 4 9/16 inches, showcasing Mellan's mastery of the engraving medium during his early career in Rome. Engravings like, produced by incising fine lines into a metal plate and printing under pressure, allowed for exquisite detail and tonal depth, making them prized for their precision and reproducibility in the...
About the Artist
Claude Mellan · 1598–1688
Claude Mellan (1598-1688) was a French draughtsman, engraver, and painter who became one of the most innovative printmakers of the French Baroque period. Born in Abbeville to a family of coppersmiths, Mellan rose to become Peintre et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi (Painter and Engraver in Ordinary to the King), achieving recognition for his extraordinary technical mastery. Mellan's artistic significanc...