He walks away with his hand at his chin, looking down.
Bible in art · Matthew
The Rich Young Man Went Away Sorrowful (Le jeune homme riche s'en alla triste)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
The rich young man walks away alone along a hillside path, barefoot, with his eyes on the ground and a hand at his chin. He wears a fine red robe with a dark mantle and a yellow shawl over his shoulder.
Behind him, small among the olive trees, Jesus and the disciples stand together in white and watch him go. Below the path the land falls away to a broad valley with a river.
From the text
- “go, sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21)
- “he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth” (Matthew 19:22)
The artist’s own
- The young man’s fine clothes
- A wide valley with a river below the path
Details
The young man
Jesus and the disciples
A group in white stands under the trees behind him.
The valley
A river winds through the plain below.
A bush
A yellow-flowering shrub on the slope.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.159) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".