Samson and Delilah (Embracers), 1913

The subject of this sculpture comes from the Old Testament. Samson was a man of enormous strength, and an enemy of the Philistines. When he fell in love with Delilah, the Philistines bribed her into discovering that his strength resided in his hair. One night, while Samson was asleep, she helped the Philistines shave the hair off, so that he could be captured and blinded.

Gaudier’s rendition of the story focuses on a moment of tenderness between man and woman, rather than on the gruesome ending; tellingly, the work is alternatively known as The Embracers. The sculptor’s carving skills are here pushed to the limit: the thin, top-heavy stone, which would have been prone to split, is handled with great ability, demonstrating the rapid progress he had made after only a few months of practice.