Christ and the Woman of Samaria, c. 1470
Master of Jesus in Bethanyexpand_more
Hand-colored metalcut with green, claret red, and yellowexpand_more
Bequest of Herschel V. Jonesexpand_more P.68.90
Not on Viewexpand_more
Christ asks the Samaritan woman to give him water to drink. She is taken aback because Jews did not associate with Samaritans. He speaks to her of the water of life that cures all thirst and reveals himself as the Messiah.
The maker of this metalcut used punches, gouges, and engraving tools to produce a rich array of textures that gives the surface an animated character. The textures enabled the image to compete with completely hand-painted imagery despite being colored with a very limited palette. Prints of this scale and sophistication were sometimes pasted into books as supplementary illustrations, which is why they have survived for more than 500 years.
Details
- Title
- Christ and the Woman of Samaria
- Artist Life
- active c. 1465-84
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- P.68.90
- Provenance
- Otto Hiersemann, Leipzig; Colnaghi; Knoedler and Co., 1928
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Schreiber V & VIII 2214x; Heitz 73/17
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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