Duccio's Maesta |
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Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid |
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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. 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.
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her,
Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy
meat.) 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. 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. 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? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which
gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his
cattle? 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. Note: Once again, only in John's gospel. It is interesting to speculate on why this incident was included in the Maesta; sadly, my theology isn't up to doing so, but I have had help from my good friend Frank deStefano. (http://giorgionetempesta.blogspot.com/) He points out the many of the scenes in the predella - the temptations, the Samaritan woman at the well, the blind man - relate to the Lenten liturgy, and would provide a focus for the readings at that time. |
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