Matteo Rosselli

Private collection, United States;

Thereafter acquired by the present owner.

This impressive octagonal work is representative of the Florentine Seicento, a period when art flourished under the patronage of the Medici Grand Dukes. Both in style and format, this painting recalls the work of Matteo Rosselli, one of the main proponents of the Florentine Baroque. Rosselli was instrumental in ushering in the style that came to dominate the artistic production of his native city and he trained many of the next generation's most important painters including Franesco Furini, Lorenzo Lippi, and Baldassare Franceschini, called Il Volteranno.

Here, a beautiful woman stands beside a well and pours water from an ornamented ewer into a simple white cup held by a bearded soldier. The subject of the depicted scene is unknown, however several possible identifications have been proposed: Angelica and Medoro from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso; David and Abigail; or the Old Testament Rebecca. Alternatively, the subject may derive from some other event from antiquity or legend in which charity and generosity is manifested by the gift of water to a needy warrior.