Christ and the Woman of Samaria
Artist: Sebastiano Ricci (Italian, 1659-1734)
Date: about 1715-1720
Dimensions:
H: 31 1/8 in. (79 cm); W: 24 3/4 in. (62.8 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1971.5
Label Text:Taken from a story in the New Testament, this painting shows Christ talking to a Samaritan woman as she draws water at the well. Jews and Samaritans did not normally interact, and the woman—married five times and currently living with a man who was not her husband—was an outcast amongst her own people. That Jesus talked to her of spiritual matters, making her a messenger to her people, was seen as symbolic of Christ having come to save all of humanity, not only the Jews.
Sebastiano Ricci apparently had a fondness for this theme, painting it many times.
Sebastiano Ricci apparently had a fondness for this theme, painting it many times.
On view
In Collection(s)