The Samaritan Woman
by Angelika Kauffman

Her father, a painter himself, who educated the young Angelika and who travelled with him throughout Europe, recognised her precocious artistic talent. In Rome, where the painter settled from 1782, her studio became a favorite destination for art lovers and connoisseurs at the time of the Grand Tour, including Goethe. The encounter between Christ and the woman from Samaria, one of the artist's few religious paintings, is depicted by Kauffman using a close cut, with the figures almost completely invading the space of the canvas. Within the balanced and clear composition, the tone of the dialogue is nevertheless intimate, which is enclosed in an atmosphere that evokes the ancient

Angelika Kauffman | Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well | 1796 | oil on canvas 123.5 x 158.5 cm | Neue Pinakothek | Munich (Germany)