Good Samaritan

Ernst Barlach   (1870 – 1938)

German

Woodcut

1919

7 x 5

Barlach’s dramatic German Expressionist woodcut pictures the Samaritan reaching down to lift the fragile and limp body of the Jewish man from the side of the road.

The Good Samaritan

John B Burgess  (1827 - 1897)

England

Watercolor

Mid 1800s

20 ¾ x 10 ½

This colorful watercolor paints a dramatic scene of the Good Samaritan treking over rugged territory on his journey between Jerusalem and Jericho where he comes apon a wounded Jew who has been left at the side of the road and ignored by other passers-by.This Good Samaritan watercolor illustration is one that was used in the publication of Bibles, each typical of many biblical scenes from the mid 19th century.

The Good Samaritan

Tanja Butler  (1955-

American

Gouache 1998

4 3/4 x 4 3/4

Four small viniettes recount Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaratan. It is interesting to note that Butler has assigned a halo or sainthood to the wounded victim.

1. The first image sets the stage with the assailed man spread out on the ground on a hot day as the passers-by ignore his need.

2. A Samaratan stops and aids the ailing man, wiping his face and tenderly holding him.

3. The Good Samaratan walks beside the unjured man who has been placed on his donkey.

4. By nightfall the victim has been placed comfortably in a bed at a local inn.

At the Inn

Jules Chadel (1850 – 1941)

France

Ink on Chine paper

10 1/4 x 11 ½

The wounded man is resting safely under the shelter of the inn’s roof as others assist him in his recovery.

The Good Samaritan Carries the Wounded

Jules Chadel  (1850 – 1941)

France

Ink on Chine paper

10 1/4 x 11 1/2

The Good Samaritan struggles to carry the victim under his arm as he tries to get him to his mule.

And He Passed by

Jules Chadel  (1850 – 1941)

France

Ink on Chine paper

10 1/4 x 11 1/2

Chadel illustrates for us one of the most poignant points in the Bible’s story of the Good Samaritan, showing the wounded man reaching in desporationn toward a man who is passing by while looking the other way, not wanting to see what is really there.

Arriving at the Inn

Jules Chadel (1850 – 1941)

France

Ink on Chine paper

10 1/4 x 11 1/2

After a long journey down the mountain, The Good Samaritan secures the help of others as they lift the hurting man up the stairs into the inn where he will be cared for until he returns.

Study for Carrying the Wounded Man

Jules Chadel (1850 – 1941)

France

Ink on Chine paper

10 1/4 x 11 1/2

There is an interesting parallel that can be drawn from Jules Chadel’s studies. Just as the artist has to practice drawing the figures, repeating a composition several times before the right position can be determined, so we have to work at being a Good Samaritan, making compassion and giving mercy a daily practice.

Good Samaritan

Alexandria Gabriel Decamps  (1803 – 1860)

France

Lithograph

c1880

9 x 7 ¼

In the stillness of the night the Good Samaritan delivers the wounded man to an inn where he will be treated with care and heal. Decamps was the founding father of Orientalism. His subjects and style with strong contrast of light and thick material became the reference for painters but also photographers and writers.

Arriving at the Inn

Gustave Doré   (1832 – 1883)

France

Woodcut

1863

8 1/2 x 6 ¾

In this scene Doré shows the Good Samaritan struggling to dismount and hoist the wounded man from his horse so that he can be given over to the innkeeper.

The Good Samaritan

Gustave Dore   (1832 – 1883)

France

Woodcut

1863

8 1/2 x 6 3/4

In typical theatrical fashion, Doré depicts the wounded man atop a horse with the Good Samaritan at his side as they climb a steep pass to get to the inn where there is help for the ailing man. Doré was known for his dramatic Bible illustrations that were popular in England in the late 1800s.

Good Samaritan

Paul Frenzeny (illustrator)  (1840 – 1902)

France/United States

Engraving

1872

9 x 13 ½

This modern version of an old, old story of the Good Samaritan substitutes 19th century situations for the biblical account: a rich family who dare not look at the little girl crying by the side of the road with a broken vessel for the first passer-by who did not have interest to help; the rich man passing the little one as she cries; and finally a poor working class man with a shovel who bends on his knee to offer a coin the grateful child.

Good Samaritan

Bernhard Gillam (1856 – 1896

Puck Magazine

Chromolithograph

1885

12 x 20

Puck was America's first successful humor magazine and first to publish color lithographs on a weekly basis. This lithograph overlays the political dilemma of the times with the story of the Good Samaritan. Grover Cleveland becomes the Good Samaritan as he rescues the Civil Service law of 1883.

Good Samaritan

Georg Christoph Kilian  (1709 – 1781)

Germany

Engraving

1750s

7 5/8  x 5 ½

Kilian illustrated many Bible stories encasing them in elaborate frames. In this Good Samaritan depiction the wounded man is being assisted in getting to the donkey seen in the shadows. The two bottles in the foreground suggest that water and oil were offered to the hurting man when he first arrived.

The Good Samaritan with Salvation Army Rescue Girl

William Gunning King  (1859 – 1940)

England

Lithograph for Bibby’s Annual

1911

13 ¼ x 10 ½

William Booth started the Salvation Army in 1865 as a way to help the suffering souls spread across London. Women played an important role in how compassion and tenderness was offered, even to the youngest as is demonstrated in this picture of a young girl carrying a little girl to safety.

Good Samaritan

Edward Knippers

United States

Linocut

Good Samaritan

Edward Knippers

United States

Colored iinocut

Good Samaritan

Edward Knippers

United States

Oil on paper

2006

20 x 26

Knippers depicts the wounded Jew abandoned and left against a pile of sharp stones while the Good Samaritan wraps the man in his arms and offers a drink of water. To the right another man dressed in white disappears into the distance and a donkey is ready to carry the man to an inn for further help.

Good Samaritan Inn

Rudolf Franz Lechnert((1878 –1948)

  & Ernst Heinrich Landrock (1878 –1966)

Austro-Hungary

Photograph

Early 20th century

8 x 12

Several miles from Jerusalem, on the way down to the Dead Sea, to this day, there are the remains of an old inn which tradition designates as the Good Samaritan Inn. This photograph of the site was taken in the early part of the 20th century. Lechnert and Landrock, a duo of photographers worked extensively in northern Africa and the Middle East.

Good Samaritan

John Mosiman  (1931 – 2012)

United States

Serigraph

C 1970s

4 ¼ x 6 ½

Mosiman sets the Good Samaritan against the rising son with the wounded man reaching toward help as the Samaritan offers a drink, and in the corner two figures disappear into the

Distance.

Good Samaritan

Rembrandt/Amand Durand

Netherlands

Etching

1633/19th century printing

10 x 8 ½

In this etching after Rembrandt zeros in on the moment when the Good Samaritan is pressing payment into the hand of the innkeeper. This is a lesson from the artist that there can be real costs for helping those in need.

The Good Samaritan

Christian Bernard Rode (1725-1797)

Germany

Etching

C1770s

3 7/8 x 6 5/8

This remarkably drawn rendition of the Good Samaritan has a gentle tone that speaks to the compassion of the Good Samaritan who takes time to stop and pour oil on the man’s wounds. Note that the passers-by have their hands folded in prayer, but do not have time or the concern to become involved.

The Good Samaritan

John August Swanson

United States

Serigraph

2002

10 3/4 x 30 1/2

Swanson says, “I first did the Good Samaritan in 1970, as a crayon scrafitto.  It was one of my first attempts at telling a story in pictures; a subject told in a three-panel narrative.  Now, after 32 years, and thousands of hours of experimentation and experience in various workshops in London and Southern California, I have returned to this early work, to make a new interpretation of this drawing and the basic narrative theme.”

It is remarkable that one can discover many new ideas in an old and familiar story.  Sometimes it is necessary to take a long "journey" to rediscover earlier creative ideas that are so personal and connected to one's history.  Many artists have returned to and reinterpreted their favorite themes throughout their careers: Rembrandt, Chagall, Degas, and Picasso, to list a few prominent names.

Tending the Wounds

William Unger after G. Bassano

Germany

Etching

Late 1800s

7 1/8 x 9 ¾

This interesting version of Jesus’ parable shows the Good Samaritan wrapping the wounds of the accosted man. Two containers of oil and perhaps water are in the foreground, suggesting they were administered before the bandages.  The donkey waits to transport the wounded man to the inn.

A Certain Samaritan…had compassion on him

Unknown artist

England

Engraving from a magazine

1885

6 ½ x 4 ¾

This engraving of the Good Samaritan was from a 19th century English magazine. It was fashionable at the time to depict the Good Samaritan dressed in oriental headdress as he stoops to offer assistance to the hurting victim at the side of the road.

Unknown, Story of the Good Samaritan, Catchpenny, woodcut  (detail)

Unknown, Story of the Good Samaritan, Catchpenny, woodcut   18 x 22

Letter S, Good Samaritan

German printed in Cologne

Woodcut and typeset

1626

2 ½ x 2 ½

The Letter S begins the parable of the Good Samaritan that was told by Jesus and is mentioned in only one of the gospels of the New Testament. According to the Gospel of Luke (10:29–37) a traveler (who may or may not have been a Jew) is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan comes by. Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the injured man. Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to a question regarding the identity of the "neighbor", who Leviticus 19:18 says should be loved.

The Good Samaritan

Van Gogh

France

Poster

24 x 18

While van Gogh was in an assylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, a small hamlet in southern France, he produced several paintings based on other artists’ biblical scenes. One is this Good Samaritan after Eugene Delacroix. In contrast to Delacroix’s painting, Van Gogh has infused the scene with bright colors that speak of hope and compassion.

The Good Samaritan

Baron Carl von Blaas (1815-1894)

Austria

Pencil on Paper

C 1860

8 ¼ x 11 1/8

With great detail this delicate and intricate drawing by a 19th century Nazarene painter from Austria, skillfully draws our attention to the whole story of the Good Samaritan. Baron Carl von Blaas probably drew it as a preliminary sketch for a painting to go in a church. He focuses our attention on the Good Samaritan as he offers the wounded Jew a drink, but in the distance a priest and Levite are seen slinking away.