Italian, probably Padua, first quarter 16th century

inscribed: N^o 602 in white ink on the right thigh of the Philistine

Overall the condition of the bronze is good. There is some wear and dirt to the surface consistent with age. Several lacquer patinas have been rubbed and in some areas flaked off. There is an area with stable old fissures to the proper right lower leg of Samson. The pins which hold the two figures together are slightly visible at the proper right foot and left hand of Samson. There are one or two lacunae, including one in the Philistine's proper left groin. There are one or two slightly visible original plugs. The jawbone was cast separately and can be unscrewed
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The present composition was known until recently only through two casts, one in the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt (inv. no. 1279) and the other in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Their attribution has been a matter of some debate, most recently by Warren (op.cit.). The details of the anatomy, the spatial planning of the group and the black patina, typical of Venetian and Paduan bronzes, suggest that it was made by a gifted artist working in the orbit of Riccio. 

Most notable are the similarities with statuettes attributed to Francesco da Sant’Agata, a Paduan goldsmith active between 1494 and 1528, by Krahn (op.cit. nos. 34 and 35). The formal composition and slender bodies of Hercules and Antaeus from the National Gallery of Art, Washington (inv. no. 1957.14.505), in particular, bear a striking resemblance to the present figures. Further parallels can be drawn with the facial types and musculature of Riccio's Shepherd from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, and the Mythological Battle by Camelio in the Cà d'Oro, Venice (see Krahn, nos. 29 and 40).

RELATED LITERATURE
W. Bode, The Italian bronze statuettes of the renaissance, rev. ed. by J.D. Draper, 1980, p. 107, pl. CCXXI; B. von Götz-Mohr, Nachantike Kleinplastische Bildwerke. Band II Italien, Frankreich Niederlande 1500-1800, cat. Liebighaus Frankfurt, Melsungen, 1988, pp. 66-69, no. 23; V. Krahn (ed.), Von allen Seiten schön. Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, exhib. cat. Altes Museum, Berlin, 1995, pp. 200-201, 210-213 and 222-223, nos. 29, 34-35 and 40; J. Warren (ed.), Beauty & Power. Renaissance and Baroque bronzes from the Peter Marino collection, exh. cat. Wallace Collection, London, Huntington Art Collections, San Marino and Minneapolis Institute of Arts, London, 2010, p. 52 and 53, n. 50