id: 147020 accession number: 1972.50 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.50 updated: 2024-03-26 01:59:32.865000 Samson, 1630–31. Valentin de Boulogne (French, 1591–1632). Oil on canvas; framed: 157 x 125 x 7 cm (61 13/16 x 49 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.); unframed: 135.6 x 102.8 cm (53 3/8 x 40 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1972.50 title: Samson title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1630–31 creation date earliest: 1630 creation date latest: 1631 current location: 217 Italian Baroque creditline: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund copyright: --- culture: France, 17th century technique: oil on canvas department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: P - French 17th Century type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Valentin de Boulogne (French, 1591–1632) - artist --- measurements: Framed: 157 x 125 x 7 cm (61 13/16 x 49 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 135.6 x 102.8 cm (53 3/8 x 40 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1972 opening date: 1973-02-27T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973). title: Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2006-11-08T00:00:00 Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007). title: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2007-03-29T00:00:00 Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29-July 8, 2007). title: Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio opening date: 2016-10-04T00:00:00 Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 4, 2016-January 22, 2017); Musée du Louvre, Paris, France (February 22-May 22, 2017). title: La mirabil congiuntura': Urbano VIII, i Barberini, le arti, la cultura opening date: 2023-03-15T04:00:00 La mirabil congiuntura': Urbano VIII, i Barberini, le arti, la cultura. Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy (organizer) (March 15-July 30, 2023). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29, 2007 - July 8, 2007)', 'opening_date': '2007-03-29T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio date: 1972- footnotes: citations: Edoardo Almagià [b. 1928], Rome, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: Probably 1921-1947 footnotes: citations: Probably Roberto Almagià [1883-1947], by descent to his son, Edoardo Almagià 1 date: Probably 1921-1947 footnotes: *
1 There is no evidence that Roberto Almagià owned this painting, other than the likelihood that he inherited the painting from his father before it passed to his own son, Edoardo, who would later sell it to the Cleveland Museum of Art.

citations: Ing. Dr. Edoardo Almagià [b. 1841], Rome, by descent to his son Roberto Almagià, or grandson, Edoardo Almagià 1 date: c. 1899-1921 footnotes: *
1Almagià, a prominent engineer, appears to have acquired many of the Sciarra paintings prior to the 1899 sale, most likely in lieu of payments against outstanding debts, but seven of the Almagià paintings did come from the sale, including the Cleveland picture.   A manuscript catalogue of Almagià’s collection attributes to the painting (No. 15) to Caroselli.   
citations: (Galleria Sangiorgi, Rome, Sciarra sale, March 28, 1899, fifth sale, no. 363, sold to Edoardo Almagià) 1 date: 1899 footnotes: *
1 The painting is attributed to Caroselli in the sale catalogue.  
citations: Colonna di Sciarra family, Rome 1 date: 1812-1899 footnotes: *
1 In 1728, Cornelia Barberini, the family heiress, married Giulio Cesare Colonna di Sciarra, and from that point on, the family was known as Barberini-Colonna, or Colonna di Sciarra.  In 1812, after complicated litigation, the property of the Barberini family was divided between the Barberini and Sciarra branches of the family, and the Valentin entered the Colonna di Sciarra collection in Rome.  Eventually, the painting ended up in the possession of Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, who in 1891-1892 sold part of his collection illegally for export.  He was heavily fined and sentenced to three months in jail.  The decision was appealed, but his activities led to the financial ruin of the family.  In 1897, Sciarra owed nearly two million lire to four parties, including Ing.  Dr. Edoardo Almagià.  126 paintings were to be accepted as payment against Sciarra’s debts; however, for unknown reasons, the contract was never signed, and instead, 133 pictures were sold at auction at Galleria Sangiorgi in March 1899.  
citations: Cardinals Francesco [1597 –1679] and Antonio Barberini [1607-1671], by inheritance within the Barberini family, Rome 1 date: 1631-1812 footnotes: *
1 This painting was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini in December 1630: “A Valentino Pittore sc. 5 m.ta mettere in ord.e la Tela, e colori da far Un Sansone p S. Em.za –5 [III. MC. 26-31 136v.].  In July 1631, 25 scudi were paid to Valentin: “A Valentino Pittore per resto dell Quadro del Sansone a 25 sc.—18” [III. Gius. 1501-1750. 1508] (see Doc. 345 in Marilyn Lavin’s “Barberini Inventories,” 1975).  One month later, the painting was incorrectly inventoried as by Poussin [III.inv. 26-31 and III.Barb.Lat. 5635; no. 482].  In 1633 the painting was inventoried, together with Valentin’s David with the Head of Goliath, as in the collection of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Francesco’s younger brother, and in 1649, the painting was apparently again in the collection of Francesco [III.inv. 49; no. 676], as Valentin.  The painting was incorrectly inventoried again, this time as by Andrea Camassei, in 1738 [Arch. Barb. Ind. II, cred. VI, cas. 70, Maz. LXXXIX, Lett. I, no. 32].  
citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS “A Grandi Costruttori…Impresa Almagià,” accessed May 29, 2014, http://sh1.webring.com/people/va/arcigno20000/almagia.htm. page number: url: Edoardo Almagià, invoice, June 15, 1972, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. page number: url: Rosenberg, Pierre. France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982. page number: url: Galleria Sangiorgi. Tableaux, objets d'art. Rome: 1899. page number: url: Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. page number: url: Rosenberg, Pierre. France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982. page number: url: Filippo Mariotti, “Galleria Colonna di Sciarra,” La Legislazione delle Belle Arti (1892): 135. page number: url: Cleveland Museum of Art. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. page number: url: Rosenberg, Pierre. France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982. page number: url: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, and Marilyn Aronberg Lavin. Seventeenth-Century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art. New York: New York University Press, 1975. page number: url: Keith Christiansen, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Oct. 27, 2015, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Ramdohr, Friedrich Wilhelm Basilius von. Ueber Mahlerei und Bildhauerarbeit in Rom: für Liebhaber des Schoenen in der Kunst. Leipzig, Germany: Bei Weibmanns Erben und Reich, 1787. page number: url: Nibby, A. Itinéraire de Rome et de Ses Environs. Rome: [publisher not identified], 1842. page number: Mentioned: Vol. I, p. 34 url: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015057087879 Pistolesi, Erasmo. Descrizione di Roma e suoi contorni: con nuovo metodo breve e facile per vedere la città in otto giorni : adorna di incisioni dè primi bulini. Roma: G. Gallarini, 1856. . page number: Mentioned: P. 94 url: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044004590881 Mariotti, Filippo. La Legislazione delle Belle Arti. Roma: Unione Cooper. editr, 1892. page number: Mentioned: P. 135, no. 46 url: Orbaan, Johannes Albertus Franciscus. Documenti sul barocco in Roma. Rome, Italy:1920. page number: Reproduced: p. 511 url: Haskell, Francis. Patrons and Painters; A Study in the Relations between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque. London, United Kingdom: Chatto & Windus, 1963. page number: Reproduced: p. 45 url: Blunt, Anthony. The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin. Critical Catalogue. London: Phaidon, 1966. page number: Mentioned: Vol. 1, P. 158, no. L4 url: Vivian, Frances. "Poussin and Claude Seen from the Archivio Barberini." The Burlington Magazine 111, no. 801 (December 1969): 719-26. page number: Mentioned: P. 721-722 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/876165. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Catalogue of European Paintings in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Minneapolis, MN: Institute of Arts, 1971. page number: Reproduced: p. 163 url: Spear, Richard E. Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Sciarra and Fiano Collections. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1972. page number: Mentioned: P. 32, no. 14 url: Spear, Richard. "Unknown Pictures by the Caraggisti (with Notes on Caravaggio and His Followers)." Storia dell'Arte 14 (1972): 149-161. page number: Mentioned: P. 151, P. 152, n. 72 url: Borea, Evelina. "Considerazione sulla Mostra 'Caravaggio e i suoi Seguaci' a Cleveland." Bollettino d'Arte LVII (1972): 154-164. page number: Mentioned: P. 162 url: Pepper, Stephen D. "Caravaggio Rivedute e Coretto: La Mostra di Cleveland." Arte Illustrata V (1972): 170-178. page number: Mentioned: P. 171; Reproduced: P. 175, fig. 8 url: Nicolson, Benedict. "Caravaggesques at Cleveland." The Burlington Magazine 114, no. 827 (February 1972): 112-117. page number: Mentioned: P. 114 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/876893. Held, Julius S. “Caravaggio and His Followers.” Art in America 60 (March 1972): 40–47. page number: Mentioned: P. 44 url: Brejon de Lavergnée, Arnauld, and Jean Pierre Cuzin. I Caravaggeschi Francesi. Roma: De Luca, 1973. page number: Mentioned: P. 88, 123, 126, 168 url: Enggass, Robert. "Review of Spear's Caravaggio and His Followers." The Art Bulletin 55, no. 3 (September 1973): 460-462. page number: Mentioned: P. 462 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3049145 Thuillier, Jacques. L'Opera Completa di Poussin. Milano: Rizzoli, 1974. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 119, no. R21 url: Lavin, Marilyn Aronberg. Seventeenth-Century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art. New York. NY: New York University Press, 1975. page number: Mentioned: p. 43, p. 98, p. 114, p. 242, p. 530, p. 695 url: 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. 171 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n191 Nicolson, Benedict. The International Caravaggesque Movement: Lists of Pictures by Caravaggio and His Followers Throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650. Oxford, United Kingdom: Phaidon, 1979. page number: Reproduced: p. 104 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. page number: Mentioned: p. 147-150; Reproduced: p. 148 url: Wine, Humphrey. The Seventeenth Century French Paintings. London, United Kingdom: National Gallery: Distributed by Yale University Press, 2001. page number: Reproduced: p. 395, fig. 5 url: Rosenberg, Pierre, and Jean-Pierre Caillet. La peinture française. Paris, France: Mengès, 2001. page number: Reproduced: p. 245 url: Iacono, Margaret. Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York, NY: The Frick Collection, 2006. page number: Mentioned: p. 40-43, Reproduced: no. 7 url: Fried, Michael. The Moment of Caravaggio. Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press, 2010. page number: Reproduced: p. 175 url: Franklin, David, and Sebastian Schütze. Caravaggio & His Followers in Rome. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011. page number: Reproduced: p. 120, fig. 46 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 182 url: Theiler, Esther. "Valentin de Boulogne's Portraits of Raffaello Menicucci -- The Buffoon Count of Monte San Savino." Studiolo: Revue d'histoire de l'art de l'Académie de France à Rome. 13 (2016): 130-145. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 136, fig. 5 url: Sman, Gert Jan van der. Carravaggio and the Painters of the North. [Madrid]: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2016. page number: Reproduced: p. 44, fig. 24 url: Lemoine, Annick, Keith Christiansen, Patrizia Cavazzini, Jean-Pierre Cuzin, and Gianni Papi. Valentin De Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio. New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Haven, CT : Distributed by Yale University Press, 2016. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 220-223; cover url: Cavazzini, P. "La Cattive Compagnie di Valentin 'L'Amador'." Il giornale dell'arte 34, no.368 (October 2016): Vernissage suppl. 16-17. page number: Reproduced: Vernissage suppl. p. 16 url: Spear, Richard E. "An Invisible Web: Art Historians Behind the Collecting of Italian Baroque Art." In Buying Baroque: Italian Seventeenth-Century Paintings Come to America. Edited by Edgar Peters Bowron, 54-65. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Frick Collection, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 54-55 url: Massari, Anna Maria Ambrosini, ed. Il Mestiere del Conoscitore, Roberto Longhi. Bologna: Fondazione Federico Zeri, Università di Bologna, 2017. page number: Mentioned: p. 353; Reproduced: p. 361; cat. 8 url: Cicconi, Maurizia, Flaminia Gennari Santori, and Sebastian Schütze. L'immagine sovrana: Urbano VIII e i Barberini. Roma : Officina libraria, 2023. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 230-231, cat 25 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.50/1972.50_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.50/1972.50_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.50/1972.50_full.tif