Rebecca at the Well

Francesco Hayez painted Rebecca at the Well around 1831, depicting the Old Testament episode in which Abraham's servant Eliezer meets the beautiful Rebecca beside a well in Mesopotamia, recognizing in her the wife destined for Abraham's son Isaac. The subject gave Hayez opportunity for a single-figure painting of a beautiful young woman in an orientalist setting — the costume and landscape suggesting the Eastern Mediterranean — that combined biblical narrative with the display of idealized female beauty. The orientalist element — the exotic dress, the Middle Eastern well — was characteristic of the Romantic period's engagement with 'Eastern' subjects as a vehicle for both artistic pleasure and the imaginary projection of an alternative world.

Hayez's handling of the female figure demonstrates his synthesis of classical idealization with Romantic warmth. The rich, jewel-like colors of the costume contrast with the softer, atmospheric treatment of the landscape background.