The Good Samaritan (Workshop)

This version of The Good Samaritan, attributed to Fetti's workshop and dating to around 1616, reflects the demand that the parable series generated during the artist's lifetime. Successful Baroque painters routinely maintained workshops — groups of trained assistants who produced versions of sought-after compositions under the master's supervision, and sometimes with his direct participation in key passages. Workshop repetitions are not mere mechanical copies but evidence of the commercial vitality of an image type; the Gonzaga court's enthusiasm for Fetti's parables likely drove production of multiple versions. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid houses this canvas as part of its encyclopedic collection of European painting.

Workshop versions typically show looser handling and less nuanced tonal gradation than autograph originals. The underlying composition and figural arrangement follow Fetti's established formula for the subject. The canvas technique is competent and fluid, suggesting experienced studio hands working from a clear model.