Notes:  The subject is from 'John', iv: 7-26. Three later paintings of the theme are in the Gemaldegalerie, Berlin, the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the Hermitage, St Petersburg. Rembrandt also made two etchings of the subject, one dated 1634, the other 1657 or 1658, according to state. [See ID No. 41.9]. At Sychar in the West Bank, Christ meets the Samaritan Woman at a well. Christ uses the well’s water as an analogy for Christian salvation and the sacrament of the Eucharist. The well’s water offers no heavenly reward. However, those who consume the living water of Christ will receive eternal life. Unlike many religious drawings, this sketch was not made in preparation for an altarpiece. Using ink on paper, the artist explored a humble interaction between the woman and an exhausted Christ. Glimpses of a winding road ascending into the hills in the background offers an allusion to Christ’s long journey to Galilee.

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