Living Water

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

This painting by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, is one that has me totally mesmerised. Of all the depictions of Christ that I have seen, none has spoken so deeply and profoundly to my soul as this one. I am captured by his teaching attitude, his obvious concern of the woman—his right hand moving and his head turned as if to reach her more surely as he explains that he can give her “living water” and that she would never thirst again if she partook.

The woman seems relaxed and comfortable with Jesus. Her posture and demeaner speak of interest but at the same time, of incredulity: “How can he offer me water that will take away my thirst for good?” But she wants to know more.

There is certain ease, combined with movement and fluid gestures in both of their hands and arms, that conveys a genuine, sincere experience on both sides.

All that said, there remains something unexplainable about the artist’s depiction of the scene—more inexplicably of the Savior—that has affected me accutely.

The Artist

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, self-portrait

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591–December 22, 1666), best known as Il Guercino, was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from the region of Emilia, and active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous naturalism of his early manner is in contrast to the classical equilibrium of his later works. His many drawings are noted for their luminosity and lively style.

At an early age he acquired the nickname Guercino (Italian for 'squinter') because he was cross-eyed. Mainly self-taught, at the age of 16, he worked as apprentice in the shop of Benedetto Gennari, a painter of the Bologneses School.

Guercino was remarkable for the extreme rapidity of his executions: he completed no fewer than 106 large altarpieces for churches, and his other paintings amount to about 144. He was also a prolific draftsman. His production includes many drawings, usually in ink, washed ink, or red chalk. Most of them were made as preparatory studies for his paintings, but he also drew landscapes, genre subjects, and caricatures for his own enjoyment. Guercino's drawings are known for their fluent style in which "rapid, calligraphic pen strokes combined with dots, dashes, and parallel hatching lines describe the forms." Guercino continued to paint and teach until his death in 1666, amassing a notable fortune. (From Wikipedia)

The Background

John 4: 5-15

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans .

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Other Works

Personification of Astrology (1650)

I have for long been interested in and fascinated by the armillary. I wanted one large one in my garden, but it was not to be... So I admire them wherever I see them. This may be one of the reasons why this “Astrologia” painting spoke to me.

Nothing is known about the model displaying the armillary here. But I did dig up some more detailed information that I did not know about the instrument she is holding.

Armillary spheres can be divided into two main categories: the observational armillary as used by Ptoemy and Tycho Brahe, and the demonstrational instrument. Both types consist of a number of rings (Latin, armillae) which are arranged so as to model the circles of the celestial sphere. Typically, armillary spheres used for observation were larger and possessed fewer rings than those which served as demonstrational instruments; this made them more accurate and easier to use. Often the rings of demonstrational armillaries, like those of the observational spheres, were divided, and some incorporated sights which could be used to orient the instrument appropriately.

The armillary sphere described by Ptolemy was a zodiacal instrument of six rings, designed to determine the locations of celestial objects according to the ecliptic co-ordinate system. The sphere was first set to the appropriate latitude by ensuring that its outer fixed meridian ring was perpendicular to the horizon, and parallel to the actual meridian—in other words aligned along a North-South line. The orientation of the instrument was establishing by sighting on a celestial object (the sun or a star) whose position in the ecliptic—that is, its celestial longitude—was known. Two rings, one a divided ecliptic ring, and one corresponding to the latitude component, were used for this task. An inner latitude ring was also divided; nesting within it was another ring to which diametrically opposed sights had been fitted, and which could turn within the latitude ring. By using these sights to observe a celestial body, the position of the body could be determined in ecliptic co-ordinates by reading off the longitude from the divided ecliptic ring and the latitude from the position of the far sight north or south of the ecliptic on the divided latitude ring. (From Starry Messenger)

It just so happens I do have one small table-top armillary...