Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Samson Bringing Honey to His Parents

Artist Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino) (Italian, 1591 - 1666)

CultureItalian

Dateca. 1625-26

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions39 3/4 × 59 in. (101 × 149.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 52 × 70 1/2 × 3 1/4 in. (132.1 × 179.1 × 8.3 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in honor of the Board of Trustees 1977-1985

Object number71.521

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 204

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas depicting Samson, on the right of the canvas, handing his parents a block of honey. The canvas is divided vertically into two halves. The left side shows Samson's parents standing in front of a brown stone building. They are seen from the waist up in seventeenth century costume. On the right side is Samson, almost silhouetted as his face is in the shadows and behind him is a light blue sky with clouds. There is specific light on the parents' faces, but Samson is deliberately eclipsed. He has brown wavy shoulder length hair. All three figures are focused on the honeycomb in Samson's right hand as he places in his father's hands. Less noticeable is the honeycomb still remaining in Samson's left hand; the central focus is left foreground, which shows three hands and a honeycomb.;

Label TextGiovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino Italian, 1591–1666 Samson Bringing Honey to His Parents, ca. 1625–26 Oil on canvas Made strong by God, Samson has killed a lion with his bare hands (an event depicted in tiny figures at the lower center). Returning later, he discovered that bees had filled the lion’s carcass with honey. Here, Samson offers honeycombs to his parents. The story demonstrates God’s power and ability to work through chosen mortals. It also shows the growing importance of artistic patrons. The three bees hovering near the stone wall at the top of the canvas reference the coat of arms of the powerful Barberini family who commissioned the work for their Roman palace. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in honor of the Board of Trustees, 1977–1985 71.521 ProvenanceThe Barberini family, Rome; Taddeo Barberini by 1648; Antonio Barberini by 1670; Principe don Maffeo Barberini; Principe Don Urbano Barberini by 1686; Francis, Marquess of Tavistock, London by 1764; The Dukes of Bedford, Woburn Abbey, 1767-1951; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. "Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition," Provincetown, Massachusetts,1958. "Bolognese Baroque Painters," Finch College Museum of Art, New York City, 1962. "1550-1650, A Century of Masters from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Fort Worth Art Center, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, and University of Texas, Austin, Sept. 7, 1962 - March 31, 1963. "Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Dec. 2, 1967 - May 15, 1968. "Il Guercino," Bologna, 1968. "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exh. cat. no. 3). "Giovanni Francesco Barbieri: Il Guercino, 1591-1666", Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, Italy, September 6 - November 19, 1991; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany, December 3, 1991 - February 9, 1992; National Galelry of Art, Washington, D.C., March 15 - May 17, 1992. "Guercino," Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, October 13, 2006 - January 7, 2007. Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 34. Bertina S. Manning. _Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition_. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown. 07/1958: plate 27; . 16-17, 67. Exhibition catalog. _1550-1650, A Century of Masters from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Fort Worth: Fort Worth Art Center. 1962. No. 14. Robert L. Manning. _Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Norfolk: Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science. 1967. No. 27. _Il Guercino_, exhibition catalog, Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna, 1968, no. 59. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._, exhibiton catalogue, Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, 1977. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 1978. No. 3, 15-16, 40. Denys Sutton. "Aspects of British Collecting, Part II: From Rome to Naples," _Apollo_. 12/1982: Fig. 24, 418. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 22, 30; Color ill. 30. Sandra Costa, "Un peintre pour la France, Le Guerchin." _L'Objet d'Art, l'Estampille_. No. 251 (October 1991), color ill., 46-47. Michael Helston and Tom Henry. _Guercino in Britain: Paintings from British Collections_. London: National Gallery Publications Litmited and The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd., 1991, 5-6; Fig. 3, 6 (b/w). Sir Denis Mahon, et al. _Giovanni Francesco Barbieri: Il Guercino, 1591-1666_. Bologna: Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 1991, Cat. No. 65, 186-7; Color ill. 187. Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, e al. _Giovanni Francesco Barbieri: Il Guercino, 1591-1666_. Bologna and Frankfurt: Nuova Alfa Editoriale and Schirn Kunsthalle, 1991), Cat. No. 38, 230-231; Color ill. 231. _Il Guercino (1591-1666)_, exhibition catalog, Pinocoteca Nazionale, Bologna; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; and National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1991-1992. Sir Denis Mahon, et al. _Guercino: Master Painter of the Baroque_. Washington, D.C.:National Gallery of Art, 1992, No. 30, 242-243; Color ill. 243. Shilpa Prasad, _Guercino_ , exh. cat., Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, CA., 2006, 25 plate 4, 26, 28 & 49. ISBN: 0-295-98673-5 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 27, fig. 18. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1