Christ and the Samaritan Woman
This small panel came from the predella of Duccio’s breathtaking Maestà altar in the Duomo, Siena. The altarpiece itself was dismantled around 1771 and the panels were dispersed and subsequently acquired by private collections and museums. As Giotto had done in Florence, the master from Siena triggered a veritable transformation in Italian painting by moving away from the norms of Byzantine art in a quest for a more naturalistic form of representation. In this panel Duccio illustrated a passage from the Gospel of Saint John in which Jesus conversed with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The composition is an example of early attempts to achieve perspective in painting.
John 4: 1-30
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- Author:
- Duccio di Buoninsegna.
Active in 1278-Siena, 1319 - Title:
- Christ and the Samaritan Woman, 1310-1311
- Tipo:
- Tempera and gold on panel. 43.5 x 46 cm
- Medidas:
- Úbicacion:
- INV. 133 (1971.7)
- © Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
- Numero de inventario