The Samaritan, in a round cap, takes the wounded man over his shoulder.
Bible in art · Luke
The Samaritan Arrives at the Inn
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
The second of Doré’s two Samaritan plates follows the story to its end; it was cut in wood by A. Gusman, who signed it at the bottom right in a flowing hand.
At the steps of the inn the Samaritan heaves the wounded man off the horse and carries him over his shoulder. An old bearded innkeeper hurries down with his arms open, and a woman leans over the wall above to look. The light falls from the left, so the white cloths of the wounded man shine out against the stone.
From the text
- “he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him” (Luke 10:34)
- “The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper.” (Luke 10:35)
The artist’s own
- The innkeeper as an old man coming down to help, and a woman watching from above
- A town of stone walls, steps and small arched windows
- The horse with a bridle hung with beads and tassels
Details
Carried off the horse
The innkeeper
An old bearded man comes down the steps with open arms.
Looking down
A woman leans over the wall to watch.
The horse
Its head hangs low; its bridle is hung with tassels.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 2, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1874 (acc. 75.267 A) · 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.