Flemish School, 17th century
Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well
Oil on oak panel

Unsigned, a panel maker's mark struck on the reverse. 10 x 13 inches (25 x 33 cm), the frame 15 x 19 inches (38 x 48 cm). Carved gilt frame. Two old splits, restored and stable, small losses.

The woman stops with one hand raised, palm out. Her water jar still stands at her feet, and across the well Christ sits on the stone rim, turned toward her with his hand open. The rope of the well hangs over the rim in a few dark lines between them.

She wears a yellow tunic tied with a blue sash over a red skirt, an orange mantle falling from her shoulder, while Christ is wrapped in a deep blue mantle over a red robe. Behind them a stone wall and dark trees close the right side of the panel. On the left the land opens onto a hill crowned with buildings and a blue mountain under a bright sky, painted in thin, smooth layers that the oak takes without any grain of canvas.