Christ and the Woman of Samaria

Hendrick de Clerck trained in Rome under the Flemish painter Frans van de Kasteele, before moving to Brussels where he worked as court-painter to the governors of the Southern Netherlands. De Clerck’s work places him at an interesting junction in the history of Netherlandish painting, between the older influences of the Antwerp Mannerists and the increasing influence of younger artists, like Rubens, inspired by Italy.

Taken from John 4:1-30, the present work shows Christ and the Woman of Samaria at the well, a much-depicted event of the Gospels, in which Christ converted a Samaritan woman as she drew water from a well, inspiring her to convert the rest of her tribe.