Samson Slaying the Philistines with the Jawbone of an Ass

This series depicts scenes from the life of Samson, the Israelite hero whose struggles against the Philistenes are portrayed in the Old Testament book of Judges. The prints were engraved by Anton II Wierix, after designs by Jan Snellinck and Martin de Vos.

Each print is accompanied by a brief Latin inscription and biblical reference, directing the viewer to passages within the book of Judges. They were created for inclusion in Gerard de Jode's Thesaurus sacrarum historiarum veteris testamenti (Treasury of Sacred Events from the Old Testament). De Jode's Thesaurus was essentially a lavish pictorial Bible, consisting of multiple engraved series, many of which had already been widely published and collected.

In this series, imaginative portrayals of Samson's story pull viewers through sweeping landscapes and thrust them into the chaos of conflict. The opposing styles of the two designers, Maarten de Vos and Jan Snellinck, are readily discernable from each other and drive the viewer into and through the narrative. For example, the initial image, The Angel Departing from Manoah and His Wife, was designed in de Vos's typical Romanist style with heightened light and shadow, compositional tension, and a focus on the three foreground figures. The billowing smoke frames the departing angel, who has just informed Samson's rapt parents that their son would "deliver Israel from the Philistenes" (Judges 13:5), a prophecy brought to fruition in the final scene of the series. Alternately, Samson Rending the Lion features a bird's eye perspective on an open landscape with natural and architectural elements, including the tree in the left foreground, that lead the viewer into and through the composition. This is typical of Snellinck's Northern vernacular style, in which a distinctly Flemish landscape dominates. In both cases, as in the remaining prints in the series, Latin inscriptions act as orienting devices directing the viewer immediately back to the biblical text.

The choice of the fiery, troubled Samson as a subject is interesting considering the Wierix brothers' own reputation for succumbing to passions and vices. Despite their association with religious subject matter, the brothers often found themselves in trouble with the law. In fact, prolific publisher Christopher Plantin once noted that in order to hire one of the Wierix brothers, one must be prepared to bail him out of jail, sober him up, and buy back the tools that he would have inevitably gambled away.