256 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606, Leiden – Amsterdam, 1669), *The Good Samaritan*.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606, Leiden – Amsterdam, 1669), *The Good Samaritan*. Etching, engraving, and drypoint on laid paper, watermark “Foolscap with Five-Pointed Collar” (cf. Hinterding, variant I.a.a.). (1633). 25.5 x 20.3 cm (sheet). Bartsch 90; White/Boon 90 IV (of IV); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 116 IV (of IV). A very fine impression of New Hollstein’s fourth and final state, printed with rich contrasts and showing no discernible signs of wear. Rembrandt depicts the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), in which a traveler, attacked and left wounded by robbers, is ignored by a priest and a Levite before being rescued by a Samaritan. Rather than showing the moment of rescue, Rembrandt depicts the Samaritan’s arrival at the inn, where he entrusts the wounded man to the innkeeper and pays for his care. The biblical narrative is embedded in a remarkably vivid scene of everyday life. A dog relieves itself in the foreground, water is drawn from a well, and servants tend to the horse and the wounded traveler. The dilapidated inn and wealth of incidental detail lend the scene an immediacy characteristic of Rembrandt’s early Amsterdam period, transforming the biblical parable into a compelling observation of contemporary human life. Trimmed to the platemarks. – All four corners skillfully restored. With a flattened central horizontal fold. Otherwise in good condition. Taxation: regelbesteuert (VAT: Regular Taxation).