Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Artist | Carlo Maratta |
Year | 1655-57 |
Type | Oil painting on canvas |
Dimensions | 120 cm× 160 cm(47 in× 62 in) |
Location | Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis |
Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well is an oil painting by Italian artist Carlo Maratta, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. It shows the story of Abraham's servant Eliezer giving Rebecca jewels to seal her betrothal to Isaac, after she had demonstrated the kindness foreseen by Abraham in offering water to Eliezer's camels (Gen. 24:11-20). [1]
Maratta reduces the story to its most essential elements, limiting the number of participants in the narrative to the bare minimum for maximum clarity, in accordance with classical traditions. [2] Thus, rather than the usual beauty pageant portrayed by artists depicting this biblical scene, Maratta shows only Eliezer, Rebecca, and one other woman against whom the viewer may contrast Rebecca's beauty and virtue. Maratta also reduces the figures to half-length, the better to focus on their dramatic facial expressions.
The image is full of visual cues that make it clear this is an Old Testament prefiguration of Mary's selection. The pearl Rebecca selects stands for Mary's value and purity. The vases she and the other woman hold are symbols of Mary's role as a holy vessel. [1] Since the vases are unbroken, they also stand for her virginity. Maratta was famed for his paintings of Mary, and he gave Rebecca the same serenity and languid, classical beauty as the Virgin Mother. [3]
The IMA acquired this work in 1988 with the help of the Alicia Ballard Fine Arts Purchase Fund. It currently hangs in the Jane H. Fortune Gallery and has the accession number 1988.70. [2]
Sarah is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woman, renowned for her hospitality and beauty, the wife and half-sister of Abraham, and the mother of Isaac. Sarah has her feast day on 1 September in the Catholic Church, 19 August in the Coptic Orthodox Church, 20 January in the LCMS, and 12 and 20 December in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The Vienna Genesis, designated by siglum L (Ralphs), is an illuminated manuscript, probably produced in Syria in the first half of the 6th century. It is one of the oldest well-preserved, surviving, illustrated biblical codices; only the Garima Gospels of Ethiopia, dating to the 5th and 6th centuries, are as old or older.
Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer is an aggadic-midrashic work of Torah exegesis and retellings of biblical stories. Traditionally, the work is attributed to the tanna Eliezer ben Hurcanus and his school. Modern research suggests that the text is pseudepigraphic from the Geonic period of the eighth century, written in or near the Land of Israel.
Johann Carl Loth was a German Baroque painter who spent most of his life in Venice. His name is also rendered as Johann Karl, Karel and, in Italy, Carlotto or Carlo Lotti.
Rebecca Solomon was a 19th-century English Pre-Raphaelite draftsman, illustrator, engraver, and painter of social injustices. She is the second of three children who all became artists, in a prominent Jewish family.
Nymph and Fawn is a public artwork by American artist Isidore Konti and located within the Oldfields–Lilly House & Gardens estate on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), near Indianapolis, Indiana. Created in 1917, the bronze sculpture is also a working fountain. It portrays a female nude pouring water from an urn while standing beside a small fawn.
Hotel Lobby is a 1943 oil painting on canvas by American realist painter Edward Hopper; it is held in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
Mother and Child is a public artwork by the Estonian-British artist Dora Gordine, located at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), which is near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The cast bronze artwork was created in 1964 and portrays a woman kneeling beside a small child, both figures displaying joyful poses and expressions.
Magdalene with the Smoking Flame is a c. 1640 oil-on-canvas depiction of Mary Magdalene by French Baroque painter Georges de La Tour. Two versions of this painting exist, one in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the other in the Louvre Museum.
They Waz Nice White Folks While They Lasted (Sez One Gal to Another) is a 2001 installation artwork by American artist Kara Walker, located at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It consists of paper cutouts forming a strange tableau with the projected image of a steamboat.
Man and Woman is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1921 by the French artist Fernand Léger. The painting is a cubist portrait of a man and a woman locked in a passionate embrace at odds with their depersonalized, industrialized setting. The painting is held by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, United States.
Red Kimono on the Roof is an oil painting by American artist John Sloan, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Painted in 1912, its down-to-earth subject matter and execution make it an excellent example of the work of the Ashcan School, which was active in New York City in the early years of the twentieth century.
Vorhor, the Green Wave is one of the most famous paintings by French artist Georges Lacombe. It is currently located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. Painted 1896-97, Lacombe used egg tempera and the inspiration of Japanese prints to depict the cliffs of Vorhor in Brittany.
Still Life with a Chinese Porcelain Jar is a 1669 oil painting by Dutch artist Willem Kalf, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a sumptuous still life displaying the sort of costly wares that flowed through the Netherlands during its heyday as a trade center.
The Flight into Egypt is a 1635 oil painting by French artist Claude Lorrain, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. It depicts the Flight into Egypt, when the Holy Family fled to Egypt to escape Herod's persecution.
Triptych of the Annunciation is a 1483 triptych by the Flemish artist known only as the Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. It depicts the Annunciation on the central panel, while the surrounding panels and the outside of the wings are covered in various pairs of male saints.
The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist is an oil painting by Italian artist Giovanni Francesco Bezzi, also known as Nosadella, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. Painted roughly 1550-1560, it depicts Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and John in a powerful, Mannerist style.
This vase with a nine peach design is part of the Chinese collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is a fine piece of Jingdezhen porcelain with overglaze decoration dating from the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, so it was made between 1736 and 1795.
Untitled (The Birth) is a 1938 tempera painting by American artist Jacob Lawrence, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. Depicting a scene of childbirth in flat, geometric forms and bright colors, it is very much a product of the Harlem Renaissance.
Eliezer and Rebecca or Eliezer Giving Abraham's Presents to Rebecca is an oil-on-canvas paintings by Nicolas Poussin, dating to c.1647–1649, commissioned by silk merchant and banker Jean Pointel and is now in the Louvre. Another similar version is at the Fitzwilliam Museum, whilst another is in a private collection and shows Rebecca quenching Eliezer's thirst rather than Eliezer giving the gifts.