The Good Samaritan: The Journey to the Inn - Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert

A 1549 engraving by Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert depicting the Good Samaritan transporting an injured traveller, based on a design by Maarten van Heemskerck.

This engraving, executed by Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert after a design by Maarten van Heemskerck, depicts a scene from the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. The composition focuses on the Samaritan leading a horse, upon which the injured traveller is slumped in a state of physical distress. The figures are rendered with the muscularity and anatomical emphasis characteristic of the period, reflecting the influence of Italian Mannerism on Northern European printmaking.

In the background, the narrative continues with smaller figures near a structure, providing a sense of spatial progression. The engraving technique employs varied hatching and cross-hatching to define form and texture, from the folds of the Samaritan's tunic to the musculature of the horse. The work is part of a series that explores the narrative arc of the parable, demonstrating the collaborative relationship between the designer, Van Heemskerck, and the engraver, Coornhert. The print is marked with the date 1549 and the initials of the designer, situating it within the mid-sixteenth-century Dutch tradition of moralising print series.

Coornhert was a significant figure in the Dutch intellectual and artistic sphere, known for his work as a writer, translator, and engraver. His technical precision in this piece allows for a clear reading of the narrative, while the dramatic poses of the figures convey the urgency of the journey. The print serves as a record of the period's interest in classical human form applied to Christian subject matter, a hallmark of the Northern Renaissance style.