BY PROFESSORE CESARE LAPINI, RETAILED BY THE GALLERIA BARZANTI, FLORENCE, CIRCA 1880

A celebrated sculptor of genre figures and groups, Cesare Lapini was born in Florence in 1848 and exhibited in Rome in 1888. A central figure among Florentine sculptors of the latter half of the 19th century, Pietrò Barzanti (d. 1881) ran a gallery exhibiting and selling works by himself and other sculptors.

Several scenes from the Biblical (Gen. 24) story of Rebecca's meeting with Eliezer, and subsequent marriage to Isaac, were popularly depicted in the second half of the 19th century. The most frequent representation shows Rebecca at the well with pitchers, sometimes accompanied by young beauties.