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

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.