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RICHARD L. MINNS
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Samson Slays the Lion 1
Bronze, 64 high x 60 x 60 cm, 2005
25 high x 23.5 x 23.5 inches

 

 

 

 

Biblical Scripture:
 “Suddenly a young Lion came roaring towards Samson. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat”.

JUDGES 14:5

Description of Sculpture
 Richard has excelled in portraying action and movement in this remarkable one-of-a-kind sculpture. This sculpture must not only be viewed 360-degrees, it must be viewed from the sides, from above, and from below. The sculpture has no front nor does it have a back. It is totally 3-dimensional. It is mounted on a circular bronze base with a turntable completely hidden inside the base so it can be easily turned on its pedestal with one finger. The above Biblical scripture is engraved in bronze and encircles the base, requiring the viewer to turn the sculpture in order to read the scripture.

Richard's Samson Slays the Lion is a beautiful ballet. A dance. This supreme primitive life-and-death battle of man against beast, muscles and sinews against muscles and sinews, culminating in a balletic dance of death, has fascinated artists, sculptors and writers from the Greek and Roman Old Masters to Hemingway. This sculpture is another example of Richard's mastery of anatomy. This time Richard exhibits his mastery of the anatomy of the lion as well as the anatomy of man.

The architectural design of the sculpture is itself a work of art. The front view shows that Samson and the lion are separated, with Samson's head and weight directed to the left, whereas the lion's weight and head go to the right, making a perfect “V”.

Note the wonderful muscular development of Samson's back and shoulders; his powerful deltoid and tricep muscles; his determined face, where he is biting his lower lip; the strength of his left knee buried into the lion's back; the toes of his left foot digging into the lion's fur; his right leg rigid (the source of his body's power) and braced against the stone.

This is a sculpture of which you will never tire, because every time you see it, as the angle changes and the lighting changes, you will observe something new and exciting.

Artist's Interpretation:
 “I made hundreds of drawings and many small plasticina models in order to find the proper position of Samson and the lion. Also I had several athletes pose as models to get the proper positioning of man and beast. How, I asked myself, could I make the feat believable? Tarzan slew lions, but he had a knife. Hercules slew the Nemean Lion, but he had a club. Samson had only his bare hands.

“Finally, the answer came to me:

“An unarmed man slaying an attacking Lion with his bare hands is a feat that would not be possible (and certainly not believable), even with G-d s help, if Samson attacked the Lion from the front because flesh and bone could not stand up to the Lion's huge jaws, fangs, talons and claws. Anatomically, Samson would have to seize the lion from behind, place one knee in the lion's back, with the other leg firmly braced and anchored on the ground. At the same time, from behind the Lion, Samson had to grip the beast's jaws between his giant molar fangs, one arm pushing, the other arm pulling. Thus Samson could break the Lion's back while he broke the Lion's jaws.

“As I write this, I have just finished assembling the large steel armature construction where I have scaled up the smaller Samson Slays the Lion to larger-than-life-size in order to hold 1000 kilos of plasticina. I am now on a new adventure which I figure will occupy the majority of my time for the next 6 months. I can't wait to continue on with my love affair of this wonderful anatomical ballet of man and beast.”

Richard Minns
                               artist                                  return

                               E-mail: info@hayhillgallery.com