The Good Samaritan

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

This plate, cut by A. Ligny after Doré’s drawing, is one of two that Doré gave to the parable of the Good Samaritan in his Bible of 1866.

Dusk on a rocky road. The wounded man sits slumped on the horse, one arm thrown over his head. The Samaritan walks beside him on foot, holding him up with one hand and the bridle with the other. Low light glows on the horizon, where a small town lies on the plain, and the dark slope fills the foreground.

From the text

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers” (Luke 10:30)

“a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion” (Luke 10:33)

“he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn” (Luke 10:34)

The artist’s own

A horse with a tasseled harness — the text says only “his own animal”

Evening light over a wide plain and a far-off town

The Samaritan leading on foot, his face turned up toward the wounded man

Details

The wounded man

He sits slumped on the horse, his arm thrown over his head.

The Samaritan

Walking beside the horse, he holds the man with one hand and the bridle with the other.

The horse

Its head bowed, it climbs the stony road.

A distant town

Small buildings stand on the plain under the evening glow.

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.

The verses

Luke 10:30–34Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side. But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.