Samson and Delilah

Lucas van Leyden was more absorbed by the Power of Women theme than any other artist of his day, and he got an early start, executing this remarkable print at about age 14. Delilah teases and titillates until Samson divulges the source of his power. Prone on her lap, he represents Lucas's first attempt at foreshortening. Yet even in sleep his hand and leg jerk, as if to ward off the evil that is afoot. At the snip of her scissors, Delilah seems to summon the Philistine soldiers who will seize him.