Description
Living water and witness in John 4
Christ's conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4:5-42 leads beyond their meeting at the well. She returns to her town and invites others to meet him; the account then describes people coming to believe through hearing Jesus themselves. This icon's multi-level composition brings the dialogue and its wider setting into one image.
Christ sits on the left with a cross-marked halo, a raised hand and a scroll in his other hand. The woman, wearing a dark green garment and red mantle, responds with an open-handed gesture beside an ornate well. Her decorated pitcher tilts above its opening. Several figures stand near the town in the upper part of the rocky landscape. Without assigning a separate identity to each figure, the group recalls the communal setting of the Gospel episode.
The living water in the conversation is not simply water from a deeper well: Jesus speaks of God's gift and eternal life. The image can support lectio divina, baptismal catechesis or parish discussion of witness and faith. Its narrative detail distinguishes it from a close portrait of the woman or a scene showing only the two speakers.
Made in Poland on linden wood
Art Christiana makes this icon to order on a linden-wood board with two coats of primer. The image is printed directly onto the prepared surface and finished with decorative gold-tone metal leaf (schlagmetal). A certificate bearing the production year and a hanging fixture are attached to the back.