Léon Bonnat exhibited Samson’s Youth in the Salon of 1891. The painting depicts an early moment in the life of Samson when the hero slays a lion in a Herculean bout of strength. One reviewer of the Salon remarked, “no one has reaped more laurels nor shown more talent than M. Bonnat”.
The skilfully rendered Samson, his muscles contorted in battle, points to Bonnat’s mastery of the École’s instruction; the figure could very well be modelled after classical sculpture, such as the Laocoön, now at the Vatican, which was often used as a learning tool for students at the Ecole in order to master the depiction of physical struggle and pain.
The story also adheres to the topics chosen for the Prix de Rome, of heroic morality tales in which brain battles brawn. Its similarity to other epic characters – from Hercules to David – would have certainly appealed to the Salon’s learned clientele. Christie’s catalog, 2018.
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