hamswalkerpresentationgroup6

[hamswalkerpresentationgroup6]

Group Summary:

We are Group 6 of the presentation groups, Consisting of; Megan Johnson, Alex Eaton, May Mayor and Adrianne Grant. As a group we collectively decided to present on ‘Samson’, A painting by Solomon Joseph Solomon - We found an instant connection to the piece and discovered that we consistantly had new ideas flowing about the painting and the nuance behind it. 

After forming a group chat online, We assigned group roles from a basic outline of the aspects of analysing a painting; The Introduction of the artist and background of the painting- Describing The Bible story and how that is conveyed in the piece, A Formal analysis of the painting- what we see on a surface level, the aspects of the painting such as the composition and tone, an Iconographical reading of the painting- What is symbolised and what impact does that have on the painting, And finally applying different readings to the painting such as a Feminist reading and Possibly a LGBTQ reading. We all chose what we would be most comfortable with and worked on our research on that, Meanwhile keeping a log of our work and providing feedback to the group through our chat.

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Group 6 Presentation Bibliography:  

D'Alleva A, Cothren M (2023) Methods and Theories of Art History, 3rd ed, London, Laurence King Publishing  

Miller I, (2009)  “‘Samson’ by Solomon J. Solomon: Victorian Academy and Jewish Identity.” Jewish Historical Studies, vol. 42 pp. 121–38. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29780125. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.  

The King James Bible, Judges, 13:40-16:30, [online] available at https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10900/pg10900-images.html#book07 accessed 15/11/2023  

Solomon JS, (c. 1887) Samson, [oil on canvas] Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery  

Blanchard P, (1886), Samson and Delilah, [online], Available at: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/samson-and-delilah-97965/search/keyword:samson-and-delilah--referrer:global-search/page/1/view_as/grid, Accessed 15/11/2023 

Bechtel, Lyn M.. "Delilah: Midrash and Aggadah." Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. 31 December 1999. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on November 22, 2023) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/delilah-midrash-and-aggadah>. 

Gitin, Seymour. “Last Days of the Philistines.” Archaeology, vol. 45, no. 3, 1992, pp. 26–31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41766106. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023. 

Shai, Itzhaq. “Philistia and the Philistines in the Iron Age IIA.” Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (1953-), vol. 127, no. 2, 2011, pp. 119–34. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41304095. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023. 

Grant, Elihu. “The Philistines.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 55, no. 3, 1936, pp. 175–94. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3259802. Accessed 22 Nov. 2023. 

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May Mayor: Work Log

I was assigned the role of explaining and describing what is happening in the scene painted by Solomon. I spent a lot of time familiarising myself with the bible story behind the painting in order to get a better understanding of the scene, in which I’ve learned that Samson was a Nazirite, someone chosen by the lord that abstains from cutting their hair and drinking alcohol. He was born of a woman that was infertile until one of the Lord’s angels blessed her with a child, being Samson.  

His strength enabled him to tear apart a lion barehanded, tear Gaza’s city gate out and carry it up a hill, kill a thousand men with the jaw of a donkey, escape multiple attempts of being captured and eventually, despite his blindness, bring down the temple he was inside killing him and many more Philistines than when he had lived.  

There is contest on whether or not Delilah was a Philistine, however once Samson falls in love with her she is approached by Philistine officials who offer to pay her 1100 silver shekels each if she aids in his capture – which she agrees to. After multiple failed attempts at Samson’s capture, due to him initially lying to Delilah about what subdues his strength, he eventually gives in after her constant nagging. It is that night she cuts his hair off and the captors finally restrain him, which is what the painting is depicting.  

Reading into this story was interesting - death and war in the name of religion has always been a frightening concept to me due to not personally believing in any religion or the idols, deities and gods that come with that territory. The thought of millions of people in ancient and modern history losing their lives over a concept created thousands of years prior is hard to comprehend, despite it being the basis for many conflicts we still see today.  

During my research into the story behind Samson and Delilah, I’ve really enjoyed learning about the conflict between the Israelites and the Philistines to further understand the context and scene depicted in Solomon’s artwork. Whether or not you believe in the stories from the bible or the characters within, the conflicts between the Israelites and the Philistines did occur.  

The Philistines had occupied modern day Palestine (then known as Canaan) since migrating from the Aegean Sea in the 11th century BCE which was an area we know now as modern day Greece. They are often described as being one of, if not the most advanced civilisations at the time before clashes with the Israelites, Neo-Assyrians and Babylonians. It is generally accepted that the Babylonian conquest in the 7th century BCE was the final blow the Philistines and their culture faced before fading into obscurity.  

It has been interesting, and quite relevant in today's politics, to only read materials on these civilizations that are unbiased towards Judaism and ancient religion, and instead focus on the societies alone that have been studied, excavated and recorded not under the field of religious text but archaeology-based history. Whilst the history of these feuding civilisations and my tangent is not exactly relevant to this 19th century biblical painting, I likely would not have jumped into this rabbit hole had we not studied it, hence writing about it for the blog. 

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Alex Eaton: Work Log

After our initial visit to the Walker gallery in our assigned groups, we all felt that the best piece for us to present would be ‘Samson’ by Solomon Joseph Solomon (c. 1887) as we were able to come up with a myriad of ways to dissect and analyse the painting upon first glance. 

We formed a group chat after the gallery visit and decided on roles for the presentation- mine being the iconographical aspects of the piece. Adrienne sent a link to the group chat of a paper by I.Miller in regards to the iconography of the tiger-pelt rug, with this proving to be an incredibly helpful academic paper on the symbolism and identity within the painting. Despite being initially optimistic about the iconography of ‘Samson’, upon beginning my research I found there was very little information on the themes within the piece, and the iconographical symbols themselves were fairly scarce. 

I eventually settled on the lion-skin rug, the cutting of Samson’s hair, and the white dress that adorned Delilah, which can all be interpreted both in the sense of iconography and in the added context of the biblical tale. The aspect of my research I found most interesting is this fact of the iconography within the piece and how easily it ties into the story of Samson’s betrayal by Delilah, with the whole group delving into the background information of their relationship- finding it equally as interesting as the painting itself. 

Relaying my questions and findings to the group always led to helpful discussion on the topic and where we could take our interpretations and analysis during the presentation, furthering our research through the input of others. I always left these discussions with more sources and viewpoints to consider than beforehand, aiding me greatly in the formatting of my notes for the presentation and greatly improving my findings.

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Megan Johnson: Work Log

After looking at the possible roles for each group member, I decided to assume the role of managing and setting up our blog and doing the introduction and outro for our presentation, I chose this role due to being intrigued by Solomons past and life as an artist, and also wanting to learn more of The Bible story of Samson.

The First step I took was researching The Bible story, I read through an old copy of The BIble I had in storage at home and further found multiple religous websites to gain an idea of different perspectives of the story and lessons that can be learned from it. I found it enlighting to see the views of Jewish, Catholic and Christian scholars on Samson's parable and how this can impact how the painting can be viewed.

Due to Solomon being a Jewish man, I found it extremely intresting to view this piece through his religous belief- As many Rabbis have an extremely negative attitude towards non-Jewish women which can be accentuated through this painting as Delilah is posed as wild and full of rage.

I further researched Solomon's life through academic resources referenced in the bibliography and formulated notes and a brief guide for me to read during the presentation so I would not forgot the points I wanted to present.

I then fedback my research to the group and formed a plan on how we would present and how each point could lead into eachother, I had a conversation with May that I could describe the story of Samson up until he met Delilah and that she could pick up from that point and describe the scene happening in the painting, We agreed that would be best and discussed notes to have the presentation be free flowing.

After completing my academic research, I served as a hub for the document side of the assignment. I set up this tumblr blog and further curated the bibliography for the group.

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Adrianne Grant: Work Log 

Following the initial assigning of groups we went to the Walker Gallery and after some discussion and consideration of multiple paintings, opted to carry out a group analysis of Solomon Joseph Solomon’s “Samson and Delilah”. We then created a group chat and after some discussion split the presentation into four segments, with each of us being responsible for a different portion of the analysis.  

I was responsible for expounding on any theories or readings that may apply to the image and looking into it’s overall impact. My first step was to re-familiarise myself with the parable of Samson and Delilah, in addition to looking into Solomon’s other works.

Solomon was a portraitist but did create several biblical or historic paintings such as “Job” or “Ajaz and Casandra”. During my initial research I found the Walker had another painting depicting the same scene, Blanchard’s “Samson and Delilah”, the contrast in the portrayal of the key characters between the two images supported my saying in our presentation that this was an unusual depiction of Delilah, with Solomon showing her as savage and untamed, the fallen woman leading a man to temptation, harkening back to Eve’s original sin.  

Using D’Alleva as a guide to the initial theories that may apply, I furthered my research. Most notably the application of a feminist reading to the image but also to help articulate the undeniable homoerotic nature of the painting. It is not Delilah that is being displayed for the male gaze in Solomon’s work. Knowing where the painting originally hung and who it was commissioned by where also essential to find support for my opinions. I fed back to the group, via the chat on my findings and feelings on the queer nature of the image. We organised to meet to collate our findings and run through what we had put together so far for our segments of the presentation.  Following this I refined my thoughts and wrote brief speakers notes to prepare. 

[hamswalkerpresentationgroup6]

Group Summary:

We are Group 6 of the presentation groups, Consisting of; Megan Johnson, Alex Eaton, May Mayor and Adrianne Grant. As a group we collectively decided to present on ‘Samson’, A painting by Solomon Joseph Solomon - We found an instant connection to the piece and discovered that we consistantly had new ideas flowing about the painting and the nuance behind it. 

After forming a group chat online, We assigned group roles from a basic outline of the aspects of analysing a painting; The Introduction of the artist and background of the painting- Describing The Bible story and how that is conveyed in the piece, A Formal analysis of the painting- what we see on a surface level, the aspects of the painting such as the composition and tone, an Iconographical reading of the painting- What is symbolised and what impact does that have on the painting, And finally applying different readings to the painting such as a Feminist reading and Possibly a LGBTQ reading. We all chose what we would be most comfortable with and worked on our research on that, Meanwhile keeping a log of our work and providing feedback to the group through our chat.