The Blinding of Samson was created in 1636 by Rembrandt van Rijn, the Dutch painter and etcher of Baroque Era. It was compared to Lady Macbeth written by Shakespeare by the critics because of the exquisite and complex expressions of the characteristics.
Rembrandt settled in Armsterdam in 1632 and married a gentlewoman Ssha J Kia when he was 28 years old. This is when his painting reputation established initially. Ssha J Kia was the cousin of William Burke, an art businessman who was a acquaintance of Rembrandt. And they two felt in love with each other at first sight when Renmbrandt was invited by William Burke to give Ssha J Kia portrait. Then, Renmbrandt decided to marry her. But this decision was against the reletives of Ssha J Kia, for Ssha J Kia was the daughter of the deceased mayor with a lot of money and lost her parents when she was a child. Finally, Rembrandt tried his best, overcame all the oppositions and married Ssha J Kia. After their marriage, with all the honor, wealth and family happiness together, Rembrandt was the happiest person in the world. And The Blinding of Samson belongs to that period.
The Blinding Of Samson
Samson is the 75th generation Judge of Israel from the Old Testament. He is the son of Manoh. Samson was taken care by Jehovah when he grew up and became a herculean warrior. He used to kill lions on the road, baffle others with riddles and make the Philistine invaders loss their bearings and annoyed by burning enemies' crops with the torch tied up on the fox's tail. Later, the enemies knew that Samson married Delilah, a Philistine prostitute. So, they bribed Delilah for 1,100 shekel to ask her to tell them about Samson's secret of being herculean in order to kill the Israel national hero.
Finally, Samson told Delilah that his hair is the source of his strength after all kinds of inducing. Then, Delilah made Samson drunk and had his hair shaved at night to help the Philistine invaders catch Samson successfully. The Philistine invaders excruciated Samson and eventually digged his eyes. However, they forgot the fact that Samson's hair would grow again after a couple of days. After being closed in the basement for a long time, Samson had his hair grow again. When the Philistine invaders interrogated him, Samson held two large columns, shaked the house and died together with the three thousand Philistine invaders. This painting shows the scene that Samson was digged eyes by the Philistine invaders in the basement.
Through all the picture, there is only a beam of light from the outside. But this beam of light illuminates the whole abusive event. The strong contrast of the light and shade strengthens the dramatic atmosphere. Samson is pushed on the floor, the soldier on the right is dragging his Iron handcuffed on his wrist, the soldier on the left is threatening him with a sword, the third soldier in the middle is trying to puncture his eyes with a knife on Samson's breast. Delilah, standing on the side, looks very scared and seems to try to run away. The light comes from the left side and illuminates Samson' whole body and the outline of the murderers. Light and dark are made so distinct by painter's coloring and the whole painting is full of tension of agitation and fear.
The painting gift and exploration spirit of Rembrandt are all reflected by this painting.
