The Good Samaritan
1861
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Rodolphe Bresdin
Rodolphe Bresdin (12 August 1822 – 11 January 1885) was a French draughtsman and engraver.
See the richer artist page1861
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Good Samaritan is a 1861 by Rodolphe Bresdin, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A tiny biblical scene hides in the middle of a wild jungle. The Good Samaritan helps a wounded man while donkeys wait nearby. Around them, thick vines, strange trees, and birds fill every inch of the paper. Bresdin crammed tropical and European plants together—something you’d never see in real life. The crowded details make the small act of kindness feel even quieter. It’s like finding a calm moment in a noisy forest. If you like how Bresdin packs so much into one sheet, look up sfumato—a technique that softens edges, used by artists like Leonardo da Vinci.
This is a highly original treatment of the biblical story of a Jewish man who had been beaten, stripped, robbed, and left for dead, and the Samaritan who helped him. This kind act is all the more heroic considering the great hatred between the Samaritans and Jews (each claimed to be the exclusive descendants of Abraham and Moses). The small scene in the center of the large sheet is surrounded by an exuberant landscape teeming with an unrealistic assortment of tropical and nontropical plants and a variety of peering animals. Bresdin used a pen and lithographic ink to detail the fauna and flora…
Rodolphe Bresdin was known in his time as "Chien-Caillou" after the impoverished artist who served as the protagonist in an 1845 novel with the same title.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Rodolphe Bresdin (12 August 1822 – 11 January 1885) was a French draughtsman and engraver.
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