De barmhartige Samaritaan 1598

Pieter Bast’s etching presents the parable of the Good Samaritan. The primary motif is the act of compassion: the Samaritan tending to the wounded traveler. This embodies a universal symbol of empathy. The figure bending over the injured man echoes poses found in ancient Greek depictions of healing deities, such as Asclepius. We observe a similar posture in Renaissance depictions of the Deposition of Christ, where Christ is gently lowered from the cross. Note the emotional weight of such images, tapping into our collective memory of suffering and care. Such echoes resonate through time, revealing how gestures of kindness persist, adapted and re-contextualized across centuries. The act of tending to wounds becomes a potent symbol, continually resurrected in art to remind us of our shared humanity and our capacity for compassion.