Rebecca at the well (Rencontre d'Eliézer et de Rébecca près d'un puits)

Etching with a Biblical scene of the Genesis, illustrating the passage in which Abraham's servant finds Rebecca among his relatives, and brings her back for Isaac to take her as wife. The composition, as is common in many of Delaune's Biblical scenes, illustrates simultaneously two distinct episodes from history: on the center, a well separates Rebecca, holding a vase of water, on the right, from Abraham's servant Eliezer, asking her for water to drink, and leading a group of camels and other servants, on the left. In the background, to their right, Rebecca appears running back, the vase with water on her shoulder, running back to her father's home.



The scene is part of a set of 36 prints illustrating the history of the Genesis, all with an inscription in Latin under the picture, summarizing the passage of the Bible that is subject of the picture (Genesis 24:17-20, 28). The succession of episodes in this set is somewhat chaotic, as only three plates illustrate the history of Creation, while six are consecrated to the history of Adam and Eve, and with striking breaks in the narration. The existence of more complete sets of drawings by Delaune on the same subject suggest that he might have intended more plates to illustrate the history of the Genesis in a more thorough manner, although the prints are yet to be found. Many of these prints represent, simultaneously, two or more episodes separated in time, following the 16th century tradition, inherited from the Middle Ages. Most of them are also inspired on the engravings by Bernard Salomon, created to illustrate the "Quadrins historiques de la Bible" (Historical Biblical Scenes) by Claude Paradin, first published in Lyon in 1553.