id: 114942 accession number: 1935.117 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1935.117 updated: The Power of Women: Samson and Delilah, c. 1512. Lucas van Leyden (Dutch, 1494–1533). Woodcut; image: 41.1 x 28.7 cm (16 3/16 x 11 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland in memory of Charles T. Brooks 1935.117 title: The Power of Women: Samson and Delilah title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1512 creation date earliest: 1507 creation date latest: 1517 current location: creditline: Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland in memory of Charles T. Brooks copyright: --- culture: Netherlands, 16th century technique: woodcut department: Prints collection: PR - Woodcut type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Hollstein 6 --- CREATORS * Lucas van Leyden (Dutch, 1494–1533) - artist --- measurements: Image: 41.1 x 28.7 cm (16 3/16 x 11 5/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Prints Accessioned in 1935 opening date: 1936-10-14T05:00:00 Prints Accessioned in 1935. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 14-November 8, 1936). title: Inaugural Exhibition of the New Print Gallery - Prints from the Museum Collection opening date: 1938-08-10T04:00:00 Inaugural Exhibition of the New Print Gallery - Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-November 13, 1938). title: Prints by Lucas Van Leyden and His Contemporaries opening date: 1939-02-28T05:00:00 Prints by Lucas Van Leyden and His Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 28-April 2, 1939). title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00 The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). title: Prints 1400-1800 opening date: 1956-12-18T05:00:00 Prints 1400-1800. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 18, 1956-January 10, 1957); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (February 1-March 3, 1957); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (November 1-December 1, 1957). title: Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition opening date: 1958-03-03T05:00:00 Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959). title: Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection opening date: 1965-05-06T04:00:00 Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-September 9, 1965). title: Old Master Prints and Drawings opening date: 1966-07-29T04:00:00 Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-April 1, 1967). title: Eight Masters of the Print opening date: 1980-10-14T04:00:00 Eight Masters of the Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 14, 1980-January 18, 1981). title: Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland opening date: 1991-04-02T04:00:00 Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991). title: Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection opening date: 2003-08-17T00:00:00 Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Paul J. Sachs date: footnotes: citations: Paul J. Sachs date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The publication of Albrecht Dürer's three impressive woodcut series in 1511—The Large Passion, The Apocalypse, and The Life of the Virgin—had an immediate impact on Northern painters such as Lucas. Lucas's first major designs for woodcuts were six large images whose theme was the power of women, that is, women's ability to dominate man by using wiles and beauty was a subject with broad, popular appeal at the time. The woodcut medium was eminently suitable for the bold, straightforward manner in which Lucas presented his subjects. The moment representing woman's treachery is always depicted as a restrained confrontation: here, Delilah cuts Samson's hair, sapping his extraordinary strength and leaving him vulnerable to the Philistines who wait in the background to seize him. In size, these woodcuts rival Dürer's largest sheets. The motionless figures possess a monumentality that contributes to the dramatic impact. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 651 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n121 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 104 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n128 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 104 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n128 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 120 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n140 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.117/1935.117_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.117/1935.117_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1935.117/1935.117_full.tif