Francesco Botti (1640 - 1711), Samson and Delilah

The scene, cut tightly on the main characters, represents Samson and Delilah. In the foreground, the biblical hero lies asleep on the woman's lap; he still wears his armor and puts his left hand on his helmet. Dalila, very elegantly dressed with a blue cloak and white tunic covered with another rose, takes a lock of his hair and cuts it with scissors. It is the story of the biblical passage in which Delilah, in order to take away Samson's strength, cuts his hair. The painting, after a recent cleaning, has regained strength in the colors, and better legibility; and the state of conservation is good. The painting is unpublished, but a version of this same subject with some minor variations is cataloged in the photo library of the Federico Zeri Foundation, with the attribution to Simone Pignoni., Oil on canvas, 96 x 119.5 cm