The Calling of Samuel

Gustave Doré · 1877
Art Institute of Chicago

This is not an engraving but a drawing: Doré made it in 1877 with brush and brown wash, white gouache and black ink on tan paper. It is in the Art Institute of Chicago.

In a dark hall with pillars, the boy Samuel lies on a tall bed, raising himself on one arm. Beside the bed stands a winged figure, painted in white strokes, pointing up to a burst of light at the top of the sheet. The white gouache seems to shine out of the brown paper.

From the text

“for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel” (1 Samuel 3:8)

Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” (1 Samuel 3:10)

“Speak, for Your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10)

The artist’s own

An angel at the bedside — the text says only that the LORD came and stood there and called

A burst of light high in the dark hall

A carved bed and pillars like a church interior

Details

Samuel

The boy lifts himself on the bed and listens.

The winged figure

Painted in white, it stands by the bed and points upward.

A burst of light

Rays of white gouache spread at the top of the sheet.

Signature and date

Doré signed the sheet and dated it 1877.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. Art Institute of Chicago (The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection, 1922.243) · Brush and brown wash and white gouache, with pen and black ink, on tan wove paper · Art Institute of Chicago: API record "is_public_domain": true; the image is released under the "CC0 Public Domain Designation" (artic.edu open access; API data licensed CC0 1.0).

The verses

1 Sam 3:8–10Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy. “Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”