Christ and the Woman of Samaria

Christ and the Woman of Samaria, from John 4, was a beloved subject in Venetian painting for its combination of intimate dialogue, outdoor setting, and theological depth: Jesus's conversation at Jacob's Well reveals his identity as Messiah to a foreigner and social outcast, prefiguring the universal reach of the Gospel. Ricci's 1717 canvas at the Toledo Museum of Art belongs to his mature period, painted shortly after his return from England and at the height of his technical powers. The Toledo Museum acquired important European Baroque and Rococo works during the early twentieth century, building a collection that positioned American visitors to engage with the full sweep of Western painting. Ricci's treatment likely follows the established compositional formula of the two-figure well-scene encounter, bringing to it the lighter palette and more informal figure relationships characteristic of the emerging Venetian Rococo.

The 1717 dating places this firmly in Ricci's assured mature style. Well-scene compositions allow him to exploit the formal contrast between a seated and a standing figure, with the well structure providing a spatial and narrative anchor. His palette at this period favors soft blues, warm creams, and the kind of luminous sky that derives from his study of Veronese.