The Good Samaritan

Loving one’s fellow man is more important than religious belief, that is the message here: a pious man from Samaria – with turban – comforts a man who has just been violently robbed. The biblical story describes how two Jewish priests had walked past the half-dead victim. By depicting one of these (front right) as a Christian monk, the artist was clearly levelling criticism at the Catholic Church of his own time.

The Good Samaritan

Loving one’s fellow man is more important than religious belief, that is the message here: a pious man from Samaria – with turban – comforts a man who has just been violently robbed. The biblical story describes how two Jewish priests had walked past the half-dead victim. By depicting one of these (front right) as a Christian monk, the artist was clearly levelling criticism at the Catholic Church of his own time.