[Samson fighting the lion].

Engraving, 35 x 26,5 cm, double sheet (sl. browning, dampstaining, first text line overwritten in ink).

Stuck by upper edge under passe-partout.

Very rare micrography depicting Samson slaying the Lion and subsequently Samson with his first Philistine wife from Timnah (Judges 14:1-20). The entire Biblical scene is composed of miniature caligraphic writing known as micrography. The words which constitute the images of Samson and the lion are taken from the biblical passages that describe the action being depicted. The image is framed with a decorative border. The full biblical passage in Dutch is repeated under the image. The technique can be traced back to ninth century Jewish and Islamic traditions as a way to circumvent the Second Commandment, which prohibits the depiction of God or his creations. As the technique spread throughout Christian Europe, more elaborate and inventive motifs emerged, comprising passages of biblical texts.