circa 1640-1700 Oil on oak panel, with 19th-century mahogany cradling, in a carved gilded frame
475 x 340 mm. Bequest: Sir John Williams 1926
There are paintings, attributed to Rembrandt, titled 'Christ and the Woman of Samaria' in Berlin (Gemäldegalerie), St Petersburg (Hermitage) and New York (Metropolitan). This painting is near identical in composition (but not an exact copy) to the Berlin painting which is disputed in its attribution to Rembrandt. Expert opinion was sought from various sources as regards the authenticity and attribution of the Aberystwyth painting the general consensus being that the work is Dutch, seventeenth century, not by Rembrandt himself and not a later copy of the Berlin painting. It could have been produced by a pupil or follower of Rembrandt with possible names mentioned including Barent Fabritius (1624-1673), Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693) and Aert de Gelder (1645-1727). The conservator reported that the strange wide brimmed hat was probably painted at a different date, though not much later, possibly so as to hide the split running down the centre of the panel
Biblical scene, Christ and the woman of Samaria. In the centre is a woman lifting a bucket of water, the latter suspended from a chain, from Jacob's well. The woman wears a very wide-brimmed hat. On the right is the figure of Jesus Christ glancing down towards the well. The head of a child? appears above the well wall between the woman and Christ. In the background are buildings / ruins, rocks of a cave? and, centre left, the heads of four men. Impasto in paler areas and highlights. A split in the oak panel runs from the upper margin down through the woman to the centre. The gilded carved wood frame is possibly an eighteenth century Italian mirror frame with pierced C-scrolls, shells, acanthus leaf corners and a running floral spray