Simson Rechters 13-16. NL-HlmNHA 1477 53009947

A muscular figure stands in a powerful contrapposto pose with his back to the viewer, clutching a jawbone as a makeshift weapon. In the lower right background, the artist includes a narrative scene of Samson in the heat of battle against an army. The engraving features the exaggerated anatomy and swirling, rhythmic line work characteristic of the Dutch Mannerist style.

Samson was frequently interpreted in Renaissance Neoplatonism and syncretic thought as a biblical parallel to Hercules, representing the 'solar hero' whose physical strength was a manifestation of divine 'furor' or spiritual power. This print exemplifies how the Haarlem Mannerists used the heroic human form as a microcosm to express the hidden forces of nature and the soul.