Andrija Buvina, Jesus and the The Woman at the Well

Circa 1220
Relief in the wooden entry doors
Cathedral of St. Domnius, Split, Croatia

This relief pictures the episode in John 4 in which Jesus engages with the Samaritan woman at the well. As the text specifies, he is seated, there is a well, and the woman's is drawing water from it. Their raised hands signify that they are speaking. The city in the background, walled to signify that it is indeed a city, is the "Sychar" of verse 5.

The kantharos at the woman's feet may be a symbol of what Jesus is telling her. In paleo-Christian art this kind of vessel symbolized resurrection to eternal life. In the text, Jesus tells the woman that the water he gives "shall become…a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting."

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Photographed at the cathedral by Claire Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.