Currently not on view
The Good Samaritan,
1861
Rodolphe Bresdin, French, 1822–1885
Printed at Imprimerie Lemercier et cie., Paris, established 1837
Printed at Imprimerie Lemercier et cie., Paris, established 1837
x1978-12
An idiosyncratic, self-taught printmaker, Bresdin worked primarily in Bordeaux and Toulouse but was well known to the Romantic literary world of Paris. His hallucinogenic lithograph The Good Samaritan was first exhibited in the Salon of 1861 under the title Abd el-Kader Aiding a Christian in reference to recent current events. Abd el-Kader, a former Emir of Algeria who had unsuccessfully opposed French colonial rule, was living in exile in Damascus when he and his personal guards saved the lives of hundreds of Christians from marauding extremists in 1860. The lithograph was to become Bresdin’s most successful print by far, providing the artist with a meager but steady income throughout his career.
Information
Title
The Good Samaritan
Dates
1861
Maker
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
image: 56 × 43.8 cm (22 1/16 × 17 1/4 in.)
sheet: 73.7 × 56 cm (29 × 22 1/16 in.)
frame: 88.5 × 76 × 3.5 cm (34 13/16 × 29 15/16 × 1 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Alfred H. Barr Jr.
Object Number
x1978-12
Place Made
Europe, France, Paris
Inscription
Inscribed on lower margin: Imp. Lemercier, P
Inscribed in stone: [artist's monogram on rump of camel]
Signed and dated in lower left, verso: Rodolphe Bresdin 1861
Reference Numbers
Van Gelder 100
Culture
Type
Materials
Techniques
