Christ and the Woman of Samaria

Artist Sebastiano Ricci (Italian, 1659-1734)

Dateabout 1715-1720

DimensionsH: 31 1/8 in. (79 cm); W: 24 3/4 in. (62.8 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1971.5

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 27

Label TextTaken 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.Published References"Recent Accessions," Art Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 3, 1971, repr. p. 380.

"La Chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 81, no. 1249, February 1973, repr. p. 128.

"For the Record," Art Gallery, vol. 17, no. 6, March 1974, p. 12.

Ewing, D., "A New Sebastiano Ricci," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, XVII, no. 1, 1974, pp. 7-10, fig. 4, p. 9.

Jones, Karen M., "Museum Accession," Antiques, vol. 107, no. 4, April 1975, p. 740, repr.

"La Chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 85, no. 1274, March 1975, p. 82.

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art, Museum News, vol. 19, nos. 2-3, 1976, p. 68, repr.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 141-142, pl. 34.

Daniels, Jeffery, L'opera completa di Sebastiano Ricci, Milan, 1976, no. 286, p. 114, repr. p. 113.

Daniels, Jeffery, Sebastiano Ricci, Hove (Sussex), 1976, no. 421, p. 117.

Duncan, Sally Anne, Otto Wittmann: Museum Man for All Seasons, Toledo, 2001, p. 17.

Scarpa, Annalisa, Sebastiano Ricci, Milano, Alfieri, 2006, no. 466, p. 307, fig. 611, p. 641.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Pilo, Guiseppe Maria, "Ricci, Pellegrini, Amigoni: nuovi appunti su un rapporto vicendevole," Arte Antica e Moderna, no. 10, 1960, pp. 174-189. (Xerox copy in library - per KL).