The Good Samaritan

ca. 1615-1616

Jacob Jordaens

Jacob Jordaens, a great master of Flemish Baroque painting, here depicts one of the most dramatic moments in the biblical episode of the Good Samaritan. The figure clad in a turban and rich Eastern attire comes to the aid of a hapless traveller left stripped and wounded on the road by robbers, thus exemplifying the virtues of generosity and compassion. The highly theatrical composition is built up on the dynamic diagonals characteristic of the Baroque. The narrow focus and the depiction of the traveller's body, which slumps forwards almost as though to emerge from the frame, directly address the viewers as witnesses to the scene and prompt them to question their own values.

Artwork Details