The Woman of Samaria at the Well (La Samaritaine à la fontaine)

James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York

Tissot placed Jacob’s well inside a vaulted stone chamber, with a rope coming down through the opening. Jesus sits on the low wall in a white mantle, tired from the road, and speaks with a raised hand.

The Samaritan woman has climbed onto the wall with her water jar on a cord. She bends over the well in a white veil and a striped dress and turns her head towards him.

From the text

Jesus, “weary from His journey, sat down by the well” (John 4:6)

“Give Me a drink” (John 4:7)

The artist’s own

The well inside a vaulted chamber

The woman drawing water with a small jar on a rope

Details

Jesus

He sits on the stone wall and raises his hand as he speaks.

The woman

She leans over the well in a white veil.

The jar

A small brown jar hangs on its cord.

The opening

Daylight and a rope come in through the arch.

James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.69) · 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".

The verses

John 4:5–9So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Since Jacob’s well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) “You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)