Game Piece with the Blinded Samson Led by a Boy to the Philistine Temple of Dagon

Game Piece with the Blinded Samson Led by a Boy to the Philistine Temple of Dagon

Game Piece with the Blinded Samson Led by a Boy to the Philistine Temple of Dagon. Culture: German. Dimensions: 2 7/8 x 13/16 in. (7.3 x 2 cm). Date: ca. 1150. Numerous Romanesque playing pieces were produced in Cologne, a thriving center of ivory carving. This example illustrates a boy leading the blinded Samson to the pillars of the Philistine temple of Dagon. It would have been one of a set of fifteen pieces in a board game similar to backgammon, engaging an equal number of pieces displaying the feats of Samson and of Hercules.

walrus ivory

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Model: No - Property: No
Rights questions?

4200 x 3375 px | 40.6 MB

35.6 x 28.6 cm | 14.0 x 11.2 in (300 dpi)