Christ and the Woman of Samaria is a 1637 oil painting on canvas by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi, depicting a story from the New Testament. It was part of a private collection in Palermo,[1] and is now in the public Palazzo Blu in Pisa.
| Christ and the Woman of Samaria | |
|---|---|
_-_Artemisia_Gentileschi.jpg) | |
| Artist | Artemisia Gentileschi |
| Year | 1637 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 267.5 cm × 206 cm (105.3 in × 81 in) |
| Location | Palazzo Blu, Pisa |
Subject matter
The story of the Samaritan woman is told in the Gospel of John. A woman leans eagerly forward in conversation with Jesus, in contrast to the typical portrayal of the time which showed the woman sitting passively listening to a monologue.[1] It is one of the few works by Gentileschi with a full landscape.[2] The disciples of Jesus can be seen in the background, walking out of the walled city.[3] The vibrant colors of the figures' clothes and the detailed landscape became associated with the work she produced during this period in Naples.[3]
Provenance
Correspondence from Gentileschi indicates that she was trying to sell two paintings to Cardinal Francesco Barberini in 1637, one of which was a Woman of Samaria.[4] This work was recently discovered in a private collection and identified at that painting.[4] The work apparently never reached Barberini and its history is otherwise undocumented.[1] It was acquired by the Palazzo Blu museum in Pisa in November 2022.[5]
See also
References
Sources
- Locker, Jesse (2015). Artemisia Gentileschi : the Language of Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300185119.
- Spear, Richard E. (2011). "Artemisia Gentileschi's 'Christ and the woman of Samaria'". The Burlington Magazine. 153 (1305): 804–805. ISSN 0007-6287.