Artwork
The Good Samaritan Ministering to the Traveler
The Good Samaritan Ministering to the Traveler is an ink print by the Northern Renaissance artist Heinrich Aldegrever. It dates from 1554 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Aldegrever belonged to the group of 16th‑century printmakers known as the “Little Masters,” whose work is characterized by meticulous detail on a modest scale.
Created in 1554, The Good Samaritan Ministering to the Traveler is an etching by German artist Heinrich Aldegrever. Aldegrever belonged to the group of 16th‑century printmakers known as the “Little Masters,” whose work is characterized by meticulous detail on a modest scale. The print illustrates the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, focusing on the moment the Samaritan assists the wounded wayfarer.
Subject & Meaning
The composition visualizes the parable from the Gospel of Luke, where a compassionate Samaritan tends to an injured traveler left by robbers. By foregrounding the act of care, the image underscores themes of mercy and social responsibility, reflecting the moral instruction common in Reformation‑era religious art.
Technique & Style
Executed as an etching, the work demonstrates Aldegrever’s precise line work and fine hatching, hallmarks of the Little Masters’ approach. The artist employs a controlled, compact format, allowing intricate rendering of figures, clothing, and landscape within a limited surface, a practice that followed the technical innovations of Albrecht Dürer’s generation.
History & Provenance
Aldegrever produced the print shortly after the height of Dürer’s influence, contributing to the spread of small devotional images across northern Europe. While specific ownership records are scarce, the etching circulated among collectors of religious prints in the mid‑16th century and remains documented in several museum collections today.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Heinrich Aldegrever or Aldegraf (1502–1555, 1558 or 1561) was a German painter and engraver. He was one of the "Little Masters", the group of German artists making small old master prints in the generation after Albrecht Dürer.
