Rebekah and Eliezer at the well (Genesis 24:18-19)

Rebekah and Eliezer at the Well, painted in 1634 and now in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, depicts the Old Testament scene from Genesis 24 in which Abraham's servant Eliezer encounters Rebekah at a well and she offers water to him and his camels — an act of kindness that identifies her as the destined wife for Abraham's son Isaac. The subject held symbolic resonance for Christian viewers as a prefiguration of Christ's encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, and its combination of oriental setting, narrative action, and female beauty made it perennially popular in Baroque painting. Jordaens sets the scene outdoors beside a well, populating it with attendants, camels, and vessels in a richly staged tableau. The Royal Museums of Fine Arts holds one of the finest collections of Flemish old masters in Europe, and this work sits within a distinguished group of Jordaens canvases that trace his full development as a painter.

The canvas balances the vertical figures of Eliezer and Rebekah against a complex background of attendants and animals. Jordaens deploys his skill with multi-figure composition to give each participant a clear role in the narrative. The well itself anchors the centre of the composition, with figures radiating outward from it. Fabric colours — deep reds, rich blues — are rendered with careful glazing to suggest expensive textiles.