Samaritan Woman at the Well

2017-2018

This folio titled ‘Samaritan Woman at the Well’ is a part of the  Issanama series. The episode depicts the meeting of Jesus with a woman in Samaria, who gives him water to quench his thirst and a conversation between them follows.

The Issanama commission lies at the intersection of art and history, and offers lush evidence of the plurality and syncretism inherent in Indian culture. It’s an artistic collaboration between the founder of Sarmaya, Paul Abraham and traditional miniaturist and third-generation artist, Manish Soni of Bhilwara, Rajasthan. As such, the Issanama offers a fresh model of art patronage for the contemporary era, one in which the patron enters into an intellectual dialogue with the artist.

The commission illustrates episodes from the Bible and the life of Jesus Christ in the exquisite landscape of the Hamzanama, the earliest expression of the Indian subcontinent’s celebrated Indo-Islamic art tradition.

 

Title
Samaritan Woman at the Well
Period
2017-2018
Album Title
Issanama
Artist
Paul Abraham with Manish Soni
Medium
Opaque watercolour and natural pigments on hand-made paper
Dimensions
H: 60 cm x W: 50 cm
Accession No.
2018.33.5