Samson and Delilah and Samson Destroys the Temple of Dagon, Mortier circa 1700

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Judges 16, Samson betrayed by Delilah, and Judges 16, Samson brings down the temple of Dagon. It is plate 72 of the series, a fine example of Dutch Baroque biblical engraving with the upper and lower compositions each set in its own engraved frame.

The upper scene illustrates Judges chapter 16, verse 4 and following, the betrayal of Samson by Delilah, who learns the secret of his strength and has his hair cut while he sleeps so that the Philistines can take him.

The lower scene takes Judges chapter 16, verses 23 to 30, in which the blinded Samson, brought out to make sport for the Philistines at the feast of Dagon, braces himself between the two pillars and pulls down the temple upon the lords and the people, avenging himself in his own death.

Pieter Mortier's Bible, issued in Amsterdam circa 1700, is one of the finest illustrated Bibles of the Baroque period. Its plates, with more than four hundred scenes, follow the sacred narrative from Genesis onwards, two scenes to a sheet, each captioned in Dutch and French beneath the chapter and verse. The plate is signed O. Elgers inv. at lower left for the designer Ottmar Elliger, with the imprint P. Mortier edit. cum Privil. Leading Dutch artists such as Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart supplied designs, and the plates were worked with a dense, velvety burin that gives the scenes their dramatic light and depth, the qualities that make Mortier sheets so sought after today.

The engraving is printed on laid paper with full margins and a blank verso, and is uncolored, as issued. It rewards close viewing and is well suited to a study, library or quiet corner, either alone or hung as part of a series of Mortier Bible engravings, which together give a vivid sense of how the Dutch Baroque imagined the biblical world.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, light marginal soiling, a small nick at the right edge and small chips at the lower left corner; the image is clean.