Christ and the woman of Samaria

The Haarlem painter Floris van Schooten is known by his kitchen interiors and still lifes. Religious and mythological subjects are rare in his oeuvre. They date from circa 1620 and show the influence of Pre-Rembrandtist artists in Amsterdam, most notably Jacob Pynas. The present lot is to be compared with The Preaching of Saint John, dated 1619, offered at Christie's London, 27 May 1983, lot 86; the picture of the same subject, dated 1621, offered at Sotheby's New York, 30 May 1979, lot 273 and with Venus and Adonis, offered at Phillips London, 20 April 1993, lot 99, with ill.
The subject is taken from John IV:27-30.