Christ and the Woman of Canaan

It's Sunday so it's time for another great masterpiece from The Rembrandt's House Museum in Amsterdam - enjoy :)

The Amsterdam painter Pieter Lastman (1583-1633) is famous for being Rembrandt’s teacher, when the latter was still a young artist. But Lastman was also a successful painter in Amsterdam in the early 1600s, specialising in Biblical and mythological scenes. After having spent several years in Italy, Lastman returned to Amsterdam in 1607 as an expert of Italian art, which is noticeable in his style. For instance, he put much attention in the Italianate landscapes in his historical paintings. 

Here we see his depiction of the Biblical story of Christ meeting the woman of Canaan, from 1617. When Christ and his disciples were staying in the neighbourhood of the towns of Tyre and Sidon, a woman came to him. She implored him to cure her daughter who was possessed by the devil. Christ said to her, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to dogs.” But when she replied that the dogs were happy with the crumbs that fell from the table, he praised her faith and cured her daughter. 

Pieter Lastman illustrated all the elements of the story very literally. The figure on the right with the book under his arm may be the Evangelist, Matthew, who wrote down the story. The classical composition of the painting, with the figures carefully arranged in the picture space, harks back to Italian examples. This painting is on view at The Rembrandt House Museum, in Rembrandt’s former Entrance Hall – the room where visitors entered his house and where the Dutch master conducted his business as an art dealer.