FORT WORTH, TX — The Kimbell Art Museum revealed that it has acquired a rare 1624 bronze sculpture by Italian master Stefano Maderno. Titled Samson and Two Philistines, the work is the first seventeenth‑century bronze to join the museum’s permanent collection and is now displayed in the Louis I. Kahn Building.
Just over two feet tall, the piece shows three nude male figures in a dramatic, three‑dimensional composition. Samson, famed for his super‑human strength, raises a donkey’s jawbone to strike a Philistine, while two fallen enemies lie twisted beneath him, echoing the biblical account in Judges 15:16.
Historical significance
Director Eric M. Lee called the sculpture “one of the greatest seventeenth‑century Italian bronzes” and said it feels as if the museum’s galleries were incomplete without it. The work bears the names of both sculptor Maderno and its caster, Horatio Albritio (also known as Orazio Albrizzi), a Roman bronze‑founder who helped cast elements of Bernini’s famous Baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The bronze was cast in a single pour, an extraordinary technical achievement for its time. Its surface, refined through careful chasing and hammering, gives the statue a shimmering quality that highlights the skill of both artist and caster.
Curatorial perspective
Chief curator Emerson Bowyer noted that the sculpture will be displayed alongside a terracotta modello for Bernini’s Triton Fountain, enhancing the museum’s presentation of seventeenth‑century Roman sculpture. Visitors will be able to view the work from every angle, experiencing its narrative unfold like a cinematic scene.
Provenance and visitor information
The bronze entered the Kimbell’s collection after passing through a noble Italian collection, a private collection in Rome, and a London dealer before being purchased by the Kimbell Art Foundation in 2026. Admission to the museum’s permanent collection is always free; special exhibitions are half‑price on Tuesdays and after 5 p.m. on Fridays. The museum is open Tuesday‑Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Friday, noon–8 p.m.; Sunday, noon–5 p.m.; and closed Monday and major holidays.
Original reporting: Fort Worth Report — read the source article.
