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Early 17th Century, Rachel and Jacob at the Well, Oil on Panel

Description
The panel is dedicated to a passage from Genesis 29. In the background, we see a well with sheep gathered around it. At this well in Haran, Rachel -the daughter of Laban- used to make the cattle of her father drink. One day, Jacob saw Rachel with the cattle near the water well and gave his uncle’s flock water. Then he kissed Rachel and told her that he was related to her father, Laban. The painting is probably by an ‘Italianate’, an artist from the Low Countries who undertook a trip to Italy and incorporated the impressions gained into his canvases or panels. The choice for a southern landscape with antiquity ruins seems to testify this. For the poses of the figures, the painter was inspired by a late 16th century print by Maarten de Vos (https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/RP-P-1904-3518).