The Capture of Samson

Delilah had discovered that Samson’s extraordinary strength lay in his hair and revealed the secret to his persecutors. She cut off his hair while he was sleeping and so delivered him to his enemies, the Philistines. Van Dyck uses a composition by Peter Paul Rubens as a model, but reproduces the psychological state of Samson and Delilah differently: instead of depicting Samson’s last heroic struggle, the artist concentrates on the ambivalent feelings of both protagonists.