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Rebekah at the Well, Gustave Doré

Bible in art · Genesis

Rebekah at the Well

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

Doré drew this meeting at the well for «La Sainte Bible» of 1866, and the engraver Piaud signed it at the bottom right. A great tree spreads its leaves over the top.

Rebekah stands by the stone well, tall and calm, one hand on a big jar she has just filled, its rope in the other. Abraham’s old servant sits on a rock before her with his staff. Other women come with jars on their heads, and on the hill behind the servant’s camels and men rest in the afternoon haze.

From the text

  • “Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder” (Genesis 24:15)
  • The servant said, “Please let me have a little water from your jar” (Genesis 24:17)
  • “Drink, my lord,” she replied (Genesis 24:18)

The artist’s own

  • A built stone well with a rope, where the text speaks of going down to a spring
  • The servant sitting — the text has him run to meet her
  • Other women with jars, the custom of drawing water in the evening (Genesis 24:11)

Details

Rebekah

A tall young woman in a white veil stands by the well, her hand on the jar.

The jar

A big two-handled jar rests on the rim of the well; its rope hangs from her hand.

The servant

An old bearded man sits on a rock with a curved staff.

The camels

On the hill behind, the servant’s camels and men rest.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 18 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.