Christ and the Samaritan Woman

Duccio di Buoninsegna's Christ and the Samaritan Woman, painted around 1310–1311 and now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, is one of the narrative panels from the reverse of the great Maestà altarpiece, Duccio's supreme masterwork created for the high altar of Siena Cathedral. The Maestà's reverse presented an extensive cycle of Christ's Passion and ministry in dozens of small narrative panels that represent the pinnacle of Sienese Gothic storytelling. The encounter at the well was a favorite subject for its theological significance as a metaphor for Christ offering living water to those outside the Jewish tradition.

Executed in tempera and gold on panel at the intimate predella scale, the scene places Christ and the Samaritan woman on either side of a well within a landscape setting that shows Duccio's characteristically subtle spatial arrangement. The figures are rendered with Duccio's refined linear elegance and delicate tonal modeling, with the rocky landscape and architectural elements creating a convincing narrative space.