Information

Dyce was a leader of the High Church movement and deeply religious. His paintings of the 1840s were much influenced by the German Nazarene School, members of which he met in Italy. Later he identified himself with the aims of the Pre-Raphaelites.This painting belongs to a group of Dyce's small oils depicting biblical figures in a detailed landscape setting. The New Testament subject comes from John 4: 1-42. Seated by a well in Samaria, Jesus converses with a local woman, in itself a gesture of reconciliation between the Jews and the Samaritans, who were long-term enemies. While the woman seeks water as a simple necessity of life, Jesus speaks of the living (flowing water) as a sign of eternal life from God. Aberdeen Art Gallery holds a two related studies for figure of the woman and for the figure of Christ.

The subject comes from the New Testament. Seated by a well in Samaria, Jesus talks with a local woman. In itself this represents a reconciliation between the Jews and the Samaritans, who were long-term enemies. The woman seeks water to drink, Jesus speaks of the flowing water as a sign on eternal life from God.

  • Presented by the Public Picture Gallery Fund, 1897.
  • © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Makers

Association Artist Organisation
Artist William Dyce -

Exhibitions

Catalogue No. Venue Date(s)
The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
272 Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh 1865 - 1865
 
Royal Jubilee Exhibition
857 Manchester 1887 - 1887
 
Loan Exhibition of Works by Ford Madox Brown and the Pre-Raphaelites
287 City of Manchester Art Gallery 1911 - 1911
 
Loan Collection of Works by English Pre-Raphaelite Painters lent by the Art Gallery Committee of the Birmingham Corporation
44 National Gallery of British Art (now Tate Gallery, London) 1911-12 - 1912-03
 
Exhibition of British Art
550 Royal Academy of Arts, London 1934-01-06 - 1934-03-10
 
Agnew's Loan Exhibition from Birmingham Art Gallery
48 Agnew's, London 1957 - 1957
 
Loan Exhibition of Works by William Dyce, R. A. (1806-1864)
39 Aberdeen Art Gallery 1964 - 1964
39 Agnew's, London 1964 - 1964
 
Peintures et Aquarelles Anglaises, 1700-1900, du Musée de Birmingham
42 Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyons 1966-10-23 - 1966-11-20
 
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England
76 Seattle Art Museum, Seattle 1995-03-09 - 1995-05-07
76 Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio 1995-05-27 - 1995-07-16
76 Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware 1995-08-11 - 1995-10-15
76 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas 1995-11-04 - 1996-01-02
76 High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia 1996-01-23 - 1996-04-10
76 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 1996-05-25 - 1996-09-29
 

Literature

Author(s) Date(s) Publisher Pages
Pictures, Drawings and Sculpture forming the Collection of Sir John Pender, G.C.M.G., M.P.
1894 - p. 14, cat. no. 23
 
Catalogue of the very valuable Collection of high-class modern Pictures and water-colour Drawings formed by the well-known Amateur, the late Sir John Pender, G.C.M.G., K.C.M.G., removed from 18 Arlington Street and Foots Cray Place
1897 Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods p. 9, lot 31
 
Loan Exhibition of Works by Ford Madox Brown and the Pre-Raphaelites
1911 City of Manchester Art Gallery p. 81
 
Loan Collection of Works by English Pre-Raphaelite Painters lent by the Art Gallery Committee of the Birmingham Corporation
1911 National Gallery of British Art, London p. 12; repr. facing p. 12
 
A Century of British Painting
Richard Redgrave 1947 Phaidon, London repr. pl. 100
 
City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham: Catalogue of Paintings
1960 City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham -
 
William Dyce 1806-1864: A critical Biography
Dr Marcia Pointon 1979 Clarendon Press, Oxford pp. 163, 195; repr. pl. 81
 
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England
Stephen Wildman 1995 Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia p. 238; repr. p. 239

Provenance

Sir John Pender; his sale, Christie's, 29 May 1897, lot 31.

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