The subject is familiar from the well known painting from Rembrandt’s studio in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden and it seems to have been popular in the mid 17th century. In fact, Moeyaert’s composition is based on a similar one by Bartholomeus Breenbergh of 1646 in a private collection in New York. The subject is taken from the Book of Judges. An Angel appeared to Samson’s sons foretelling their father that Samson would save the Israelites from the Philistines. Manoah sacrificed a kid in thanksgiving for the prediction and the Angel rose to Heaven in the flames from the alter.

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