Carl Bloch: JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

 

 

THE STORY:

This painting illustrates Jesus encountering a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.  He asks her for water, and she responds, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?  for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:7).

The Jews of Jesus's time regarded the Samaritans as unclean, and they avoided them.  Jesus tells her that if she knew who He was, she would ask Him for a drink, and He would give her living water.

He says, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14). The woman asks for this water, and Jesus tells her to call her husband and come back.  When she says she isn’t married, Jesus replies that she has had five husbands, and “he whom thou now hast is not thy husband,” to which she says, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet" (John 4:15-16).

THE ANALYSIS:

Bloch has shown Jesus and the Samaritan woman in the midst of their conversation.  Christ sits by the well, shaded by a tree.  “He makes a gesture that denotes speech as they converse, and the woman acknowledges His discernment of her circumstances.  The intent, yet comfortable, gaze between them speaks of the perfect love of the Savior and His ability to draw others to Him.  The woman does not shrink back but leans forward to hear His words.  In the background, the disciples are returning from the city where they have purchased food" (Dawn C. Pheysey and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, The Master’s Hand: the Art of Carl Heinrich Bloch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010) 83).

I love the repetition of gentle ovals and circles, including the woman's headwrap and robe and ears, her jug, the rope, the base of the well, the winding paths, and the round trees in the background. Christ and the Samaritan woman form an oval of their own in the center of the painting. The curving lines add to the gentle feeling of Christ-like love, tolerance, and forgiveness here.

PERSONAL IMPACT:

The gentleness of this painting appeals most to me. This is a Christ I recognize: one who sees a woman's every flaw and sin but who nevertheless loves her and is willing to spend an infinite amount of time teaching her.