A monumental masterpiece by Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69) is expected to undergo major conservation treatments at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.
The painting, The Blinding of Samson (1636), depicts the Bible’s Old Testament story of Samson and Delilah. The Israelite Samson is famously gifted unprecedented strength via his hair, which is then cut by his lover Delilah. She then delivers Samson to his enemies, the Philistines, who blind him.
In Rembrandt’s canvas, Samson is locked in a skirmish with his enemies, who have him bound and hold a blade to his face, while Delilah dashes behind with hair and scissors in hand. The massive work measures more than seven feet tall by approximately 10 feet wide.
“Our goal is to restore Rembrandt’s painting to its original intensity while ensuring the long-term preservation of the painting’s substance,” Städel’s head of art technology and restoration, Stephan Knobloch, explained in a statement. “Every measure is carefully tailored to the original techniques and materials in order to preserve the work as the artist intended.”
The museum began considering conservation treatments on the painting in 2021, following a research seminar that accompanied its exhibition “Rembrandt in Amsterdam: Creativity and Competition” (2021–22), in which The Blinding of Samson was included.
The resulting article, published in the journal ArtMatters, presents technical studies conducted on the painting in 2021. Through imaging, experts found evidence of Rembrandt’s previously unknown underdrawing techniques and new information about the layering of his underpaintings. They discovered that the artist adjusted his color palette and composition as he worked toward a completed piece.
For this latest conservation project, the Städel aims to address signs of natural aging and previous restoration work over the next three to four years. Conservators will then remove non-original paint from past restorations. Additionally, a new historically accurate frame is expected to be made for the work. Funding for the project will be supported by the Bank of America Art Conservation Project.
Rembrandt’s work has garnered quite a bit of attention over the last few years, with the Operation Night Watch conservation initiative undertaken by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Most recently, the museum revealed findings of a dog in the artist’s Night Watch (1642) painting that was based on a popular drawing from the 17th-century.
