Samson and the Lion

Description This superb bronze candlestick refers to a scene from the biblical book of Judges (14:5-7), which tells how Samson killed a lion with his bare hands. Here, Samson rides the animal, with one hand resting on its head and the other supporting the drip pan for the candle. Bronze candlesticks and pitchers of this period were frequently made in the shape of a lion, a symbol of strength and courage.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
5/02/1984	Examination	examined for exhibition

Exhibitions

• Life in the Gothic Age. Norfolk Museum of Art, Norfolk. 1955.
• Let There Be Light. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford. 1964.
• An Exhibition of the Treasures of The Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Pace Wildenstein Gallery, New York; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton. 1967.
• The Taste of Maryland: Art Collecting in Maryland 1800-1934. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984.
• Songs of Glory: Medieval Art from 900-1500. Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City. 1985.
• Medieval Art in America 1800-1940, Patterns of Collecting. Palmer Museum of Art, University Park. 1995-1996.
• Lions, Dragons, and Other Beasts: Aquamanilia of the Middles Ages, Vessels for Church and Table. The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, New York. 2006.

Provenance Albert von Oppenheim, Cologne; Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., New York; John Pierpont Morgan, New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1923, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1923