*Sacred Scripture* Shade of Samuel Invoked by Saul – Cavallino

With the help of a soothsayer, King Saul summons the Prophet Samuel from the dead in order to learn if he will be successful in war against the Philistines. Artwork by B. Cavallino.

1 Sm 28:12-25

Samuel Appears.

12When the woman saw Samuel, she shrieked at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

13But the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” “I see a god rising from the earth,” she replied.

14“What does he look like?” asked Saul. “An old man is coming up wrapped in a robe,” she replied. Saul knew that it was Samuel, and so he bowed his face to the ground in homage.

Saul’s Doom.

15^* Samuel then said to Saul, “Why do you disturb me by conjuring me up?” Saul replied: “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are waging war against me and God has turned away from me. Since God no longer answers me through prophets or in dreams, I have called upon you to tell me what I should do.”^e

16To this Samuel said: “But why do you ask me, if the LORD has abandoned you for your neighbor?^f

17The LORD has done to you what he declared through me: he has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David.

18“Because you disobeyed the LORD’s directive and would not carry out his fierce anger against Amalek, the LORD has done this to you today.^g

19Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel, and you as well, into the hands of the Philistines. By tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the LORD will have delivered the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”^h

20Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, in great fear because of Samuel’s message. He had no strength left, since he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

21Then the woman came to Saul and, seeing that he was quite terror-stricken, said to him: “Remember, your maidservant obeyed you: I took my life in my hands and carried out the request you made of me.

22Now you, in turn, please listen to your maidservant. Let me set out a bit of food for you to eat, so that you are strong enough to go on your way.”

23But he refused, saying, “I will not eat.” However, when his servants joined the woman in urging him, he listened to their entreaties, got up from the ground, and sat on a couch.

24The woman had a stall-fed calf in the house, which she now quickly slaughtered. Then taking flour, she kneaded it and baked unleavened bread.

25She set the meal before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and left the same night.

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/28

The Shade of Samuel Invoked by Saul

about 1650–1656

Bernardo Cavallino (Italian (Neapolitan), 1616 – 1656)

Bernardo Cavallino depicts an episode from the Bible in which King Saul, about to enter into battle with the Philistines, asked the Witch of Endor to summon the spirit of the recently deceased prophet Samuel, the last Judge of the Israelites. Silhouetted against a bright light emanating from a nearby doorway, Samuel’s skin appears suitably ashen and gray. He engages the kneeling king with a penetrating stare, and delivers news that the next day the Philistines will defeat Israel and that Saul and his sons will die in battle. Cavallino eloquently conveys the emotional interaction among the three figures as Samuel relays this news.

The smooth, uniform surface of the painting’s copper support facilitated the application of paint in fine brushstrokes, as evidenced by carefully delineated contours and minute details, like the individual wisps of hair in Saul’s beard. Little is known about the artist’s life and work, but he is recognized for small-scale narrative compositions on copper and canvas, such as this one. Cavallino’s initials are included on a stone step to the left of the composition, making it one of only eight signed works by the Neapolitan artist.