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Samaritan woman at the well

Alessandro Franchi 1884

This cartoon, the work of Prato artist Alessandro Franchi, depicts the Gospel episode in which Jesus, sitting near Jacob's well, meets a Samaritan woman who has gone to draw water. On this occasion he reveals to her that whoever accepts his word, addressed to all mankind, “will never thirst again”.

Technical information

Author: Alessandro Franchi
Title: Samaritan woman at the well
Date: 1884
Material and technique: Charcoal, black pencil and chalk on cardboard
Size: 145x257,6 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
Third Floor

A number of preparatory cartoons by Alessandro Franchi are exhibited in the museum of Palazzo Pretorio: in particular, the Samaritan Woman at the Well, the Nativity and the Annunciation were produced by the artist for the frescoes in the Raffo chapel at the Cimitero della Misericordia cemetery in Siena. The revival of 15th-century Florentine models, typical of the 19th century and the Purism trend, is clearly visible in all of them.
Also by the same artist in the collection of the Museum of Palazzo Pretorio is the Portrait of Umberto I of Savoy, dated 1879.