Bjerglandskab med den barmhjertige samaritaner i forgrunden 1746

This is Hans Jørgen Kirksteen's "Mountainous Landscape with the Good Samaritan in the Foreground". It’s an etching. The artwork was made in the mid-18th century, a period marked by the Enlightenment's focus on reason and humanitarianism. Here, Kirksteen invokes a well-known parable from the Gospel of Luke to delve into moral responsibility, class and race. The narrative is set against a detailed landscape where the Samaritan is depicted aiding a traveler, underscoring themes of empathy and social duty that resonated deeply in a time of growing social awareness. Kirksteen challenges the prevailing social mores by portraying the Samaritan, who, in the social context of the time, was a member of a marginalized group, as the epitome of compassion. How does this image provoke us to reflect on our own responses to those in need, and the societal structures that influence our perceptions of ‘the other’?