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Compare the pale, bandaged traveler with the Samaritan’s deep red robe, then look at the low band of sunset light behind them.
In the Bible story of the Good Samaritan, a traveler helps a wounded stranger despite the differences between them. Moreau shows the moment the Samaritan gives up his own mount to carry the injured man, in an empty landscape at dusk. Soon after he finished it, Moreau sold the watercolor to Edmond Taigny, one of his important patrons.
watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper · Sheet: 21 x 29.4 cm · Cleveland Museum of Art · Symbolism
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Details and source
- Museum title
- The Good Samaritan
- Artist
- Gustave Moreau (French, 1826–1898)
- Date
- c. 1865–70
- Medium
- watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 21 x 29.4 cm (8 1/4 x 11 9/16 in.)
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.