Scope Of Giovan Battista Crespi Oil On Canvas First Half 17th Century - Christ And The Samaritan Woman

Features

Artist:  Giovan Battista Crespi (1573-1632) Scope of 

Artwork title:  Cristo e la Samaritana

Age:  17th Century / 1601 - 1700

Subject:  Sacred Subject

Artistic technique:  Painting

Technical specification:  Oil on Canvas

Description : Cristo e la Samaritana

Oil on canvas. The big scene represents the evangelical episode of the encounter of Jesus with a Samaritan woman at the well outside the village. This meeting, after a long dialogue, will mark the conversion of the woman. The two figures are pictured near a wall, with two copper containers full of water; they are having a conversation, Jesus is sitting, but reaching towards the woman with his body and hand, she is standing before him, listening to him with a surprised attitude, astonished. The meeting of their gazes is intense: Jesus is looking directly into the Samaritan's eyes, to express a dialogue of their souls, in addition to the spoken one. The two figures are located against an arc wall, dark and monochromatic, against which the colours of their garments stand out: the red one wore by Christ, that highlights the movement of the body projected towards the woman in a diagonal, followed by the tail of the blue mantle held by his left hand; the ochre shawl of the woman, that brightens the dark blue dress that continues the diagonal line of light and colour of the body of Jesus. The face of Jesus is highlighted in the middle, with a bright rosy complexion, like the woman's. Notice the vigour of the arms, strong and muscular even in the female figure. Lastly, the copper pot stands out in the lower centre bewteen the two figures, full of clear water, which is the theme of the dialogue between the two characters. The scene is broken up by the background on the left, that shows the village the woman is from, with dark clouds looming over it. The piece, for its quality level, can be attributed, if not to the autographed production of the master from Cerano, at least to his atelier. Giovan Battista Crespi, painter, sculptor and architect, born in the rural province of Novara, he soon moved to Milan, where he became an active exponent of the Counter-Reformation. He was hosted as an artist in the Borromeo house since 1591 and he later became the official painter of Cardinal Federico, only ten years older than him, who he later followed to Rome in 1596. In his production, there are two known paintings with this same subject: a painting on panel, part of the Koelliker collection, and another version on canvas, at the national Gallery in Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The painting proposed here, restored and recanvased, is presented in an antique lacquered frame.

Product Condition:
Fair condition. Wear consistent with age and use.

Frame Size (cm):
Height: 134
Width: 98
Depth: 7

Artwork dimensions (cm):
Height: 114
Width: 85