Christ and the Woman of Samaria
after Marcello Venusti (Como c.1512 – Rome 1579)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1600 - 1699
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
455 x 595 mm
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Erddig, Wrexham
NT 1151390
Caption
The biblical scene is taken from the Gospel according to John. According to the biblical story Jesus, at the sixth hour, at noon, on the way from Judea to Galilee, arrives at Jacob's Well, outside the town of Sychar in Samaria, where he meets a woman, who reputedly had five husbands, and was living with another man. She was ostracised by her own people and traditionally Samarians were not friends of Jews. Christ shocks her by requesting a drink but says: "Whossoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." which demonstrates his love and forgiveness to all humanity.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Christ and the Woman of Samaria, after Marcello Venusti (Como c.1512 – Rome 1579). Christ sits, dressed in pink chemise and blue cloak on a square stone well on the right, in a landscape with a tree in the centre background and a town on a hill in the distance on the left. The woman, seen from behind, on the right, approaches the well with a water carrier in her right hand. She is pointing down with her left hand and Christ is gesticulating, with right palm outstretched and left hand on his heart. The biblical scene is told in John 4:4-26 where Jesus comes to Jacob's well, at the sixth hour, noon, and meets the Samaritan woman, saying "Whossoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst"
Provenance
Given by Philip Yorke III (1905 – 1978) along with the estate, house and contents to the National Trust in 1973
Credit line
Erddig, The Yorke Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: On the back of the (presumably lining) canvas in bold red paint: 9 Verso: Inscribed in brown ink (?): 4 Verso: Inscribed on the back of the stretcher in ink: Vernon Verso: Inscribed on the back of the frame in ink: 604 Verso: Inscribed in pencil: over cabinet right of fireplace in Saloon.
Makers and roles
after Marcello Venusti (Como c.1512 – Rome 1579), artist