Painted Parables: Bassano’s “Good Samaritan” and the gospel of Luke

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery looking at how two artists have represented parables from St Luke’s Gospel.

Chloe Church, a curatorial trainee, looked at “The Good Samaritan” by Jacopo Bassano from 1562-3 in National Gallery and “The Blind Leading the Blind” by Domenico Felti from 1621-2 in the Barber Institute.

She talked us through what a parable is and why there are more in Luke’s gospel than the other three. Luke was a great storyteller. She then examined how well the pictures put across the parables and their message pointing out some of the details in them.

She concluded that the National Gallery picture still tells the story well but the Barber Institute one, while presenting the saying clearly, uses some ideas we now find difficult such as equating blindness and sin.

 

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