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Lot Essay
This painting is recorded by Bernardo de' Dominici in his Life of Luca Giordano. Gaspare Roomer, a prominent Flemish merchant and collector active in seventeenth-century Naples, acquired ‘una tela di sette palmi’ depicting Samson and Delilah, for which Giordano earned 6 zecchini d’oro. However, Roomer was apparently dissatisfied with the work—an early example of Giordano adopting influences from the Venetian Renaissance—and criticized the artist’s ‘nuova maniera.’ Giordano’s stylistic change coincided with a period when he produced numerous imitations of artists like Titian, Tintoretto, and Jacopo Bassano. These works were sold, through his father, to Roomer as originals. Upon facing Roomer’s criticism, Giordano claimed that the merchant had unknowingly paid him more for less demanding works, thereby revealing the deceit. To appease Roomer, Giordano agreed to paint additional canvases for him and ultimately acquired a valuable and enthusiastic patron.
This important episode situates the present painting in the late 1650s. Its dynamic composition and loose yet controlled brushwork reflects Titian’s influence, particularly Titian's later paintings like his Christ Crowned with Thorns (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, inv. no. 2272). Giordano’s Titianesque Tribute Money (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome, inv. no. 117), which similarly echoes the compositional clarity and vibrant palette of Venetian prototypes, also dates to this period. A drawing by Giordano of Samson and Delilah dated circa 1660, which does not correspond compositionally to any known paintings, may represent the artist’s initial idea for the present painting (Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. no. 17951; see O. Ferrari and G. Scavizzi, op. cit., 1992, cat. no. D29).
Gaspar Roomer amassed one of the most significant art collections of the seventeenth century. Giulio Cesare Capaccio described the collection in Il forastiero, noting hundreds of landscapes and genre scenes by Paul Bril, Leonard Bramer, and Cornelis Schut I, as well as important paintings by Jusepe de Ribera, Anthony van Dyck, Massimo Stanzione, Carlo Saraceni, and Giovanni Battista Caracciolo. Among the highlights were Ribera’s Drunken Silenus (Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, inv. no. Q298) and van Dyck’s Susanna and the Elders (Alte Pinakothek, Munich, inv. no. 595; G.C. Capaccio, Il forastiero, Naples, 1634). Roomer’s villa at Barra, purchased in 1634, further reflected his eclectic taste, featuring balusters carved as hunchbacks and warriors inspired by Northern European prints, alongside chinoiserie furniture and ornaments imported from China. Around 1640, Roomer acquired Peter Paul Rubens’s Feast of Herod (Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, inv. no. NG2193)—a painting whose dramatic realism and dynamic composition inspired artists like Mattia Preti and Luca Giordano. Bernardo de Dominici later highlighted Roomer’s relationships with a number of contemporary Neapolitan painters, including Viviano Codazzi, Domenico Gargiulo (Micco Spadaro), and Andrea Falcone, emphasizing how the Flemish techniques and themes introduced by Roomer influenced their paintings and elevated Neapolitan seicento art.
This important episode situates the present painting in the late 1650s. Its dynamic composition and loose yet controlled brushwork reflects Titian’s influence, particularly Titian's later paintings like his Christ Crowned with Thorns (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, inv. no. 2272). Giordano’s Titianesque Tribute Money (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome, inv. no. 117), which similarly echoes the compositional clarity and vibrant palette of Venetian prototypes, also dates to this period. A drawing by Giordano of Samson and Delilah dated circa 1660, which does not correspond compositionally to any known paintings, may represent the artist’s initial idea for the present painting (Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. no. 17951; see O. Ferrari and G. Scavizzi, op. cit., 1992, cat. no. D29).
Gaspar Roomer amassed one of the most significant art collections of the seventeenth century. Giulio Cesare Capaccio described the collection in Il forastiero, noting hundreds of landscapes and genre scenes by Paul Bril, Leonard Bramer, and Cornelis Schut I, as well as important paintings by Jusepe de Ribera, Anthony van Dyck, Massimo Stanzione, Carlo Saraceni, and Giovanni Battista Caracciolo. Among the highlights were Ribera’s Drunken Silenus (Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, inv. no. Q298) and van Dyck’s Susanna and the Elders (Alte Pinakothek, Munich, inv. no. 595; G.C. Capaccio, Il forastiero, Naples, 1634). Roomer’s villa at Barra, purchased in 1634, further reflected his eclectic taste, featuring balusters carved as hunchbacks and warriors inspired by Northern European prints, alongside chinoiserie furniture and ornaments imported from China. Around 1640, Roomer acquired Peter Paul Rubens’s Feast of Herod (Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, inv. no. NG2193)—a painting whose dramatic realism and dynamic composition inspired artists like Mattia Preti and Luca Giordano. Bernardo de Dominici later highlighted Roomer’s relationships with a number of contemporary Neapolitan painters, including Viviano Codazzi, Domenico Gargiulo (Micco Spadaro), and Andrea Falcone, emphasizing how the Flemish techniques and themes introduced by Roomer influenced their paintings and elevated Neapolitan seicento art.