Adulterous Woman

TO UNDERSTAND THE SCENE

WHAT YOU CAN SEE IN THIS PICTURE...AND IN OTHER PICTURES

This is a big crowd from which several groups or a few faces emerge.

Some men surround a woman; they manhandle and threaten her. She is a beautiful woman, her hair is undone and, sometimes, she is a little undressed; she has been caught in the act of adultery. Whom with? It is not said. Her countenance is quite contrasted according to the works: alternately repentant, indifferent, frightened, provocative… Artists have taken many liberties with the text.

Jesus is with his disciples; he speaks with them or bends down to the ground while looking at some letters or signs he has just drawn.

The meeting between the woman and Jesus takes several forms according to the compositions.

As here, they can be in the centre. The woman, sometimes on her knees, weeps or implores. Jesus gives her a gesture of forgiveness or else draws on the ground signs one cannot see. The crowd listens, a few old men go away, meditating on Christ’s words.

They can be seen in the middle of the crowd. The men who have arrested the woman push her forward so that Jesus should intervene. They press Jesus to condemn her and even seem to threaten him too, as in the Arrest in the Garden of Olives.

They can be separate, more or less moved away by the crowd. Jesus speaks to the men around him while others are agitated around the woman; some already have stones in their hands to start the stoning of the adulterous woman.

THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE

Christ and the Woman caught in Adultery; Peter BRUEGEL the Elder; 1565; oil on panel; Courtauld Institute Galleries, London

Site

THE ADULTEROUS WOMAN

The Gospel according to John, chapter 8

The Pharisees bring a woman and say to Jesus:

Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what do you say?

But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

And they... went out one by one.

Woman, where are your accusers? has no man condemned you? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more. (John 8:3-11)

Comment

The Law is precise but Jesus asks them to judge in conscience and not simply to apply the law.

SIMILAR PICTURES

THE ADULTEROUS WOMAN

Christ and the Woman caught in Adultery; Peter BRUEGEL the Elder; 1565; oil on panel; Courtauld Institute Galleries, London

Site origine

Some agitation.

The packed crowd threatens the woman and Jesus too. What is he going to say ?

Christ and the adulterous Woman; Lorenzo LOTTO; 1530-35; oil on canvas; Musée du Louvre, Paris

CGFA - A Virtual Art Museum

Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery; Jobst HARRICH; c. 1600; oil on copper; Musée du Louvre, Paris

CGFA - A Virtual Art Museum

A wait.

Jesus writes and looks at the women as for a silent dialogue; the crowd observes.

Christ and the adulterous Woman; Valentin de Boulogne; 1620; oil on canvas; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Paul Getty trust

Christ writes on the Ground; 1372; miniature from “The Bible Historiale” by Petrus Cosmestor; manuscript MMW 10 B; Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague

Musée Meermanno La Haye

Jesus has spoken; nobody throws the first stone; the crowd moves away.

Some Pharisees bring a Woman accused of Adultery before Christ; c. 1200; miniature on vellum; fragment from a psalter of the North West of France; manuscript KB 76 F 5; Koninklijke Bibliothek, The Hague

Museum Meermanno La Haye

After The Woman caught in Adultery; William BLAKE; 1805; drawing and watercolour; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Museum Fine arts Boston

Two different versions of the context: the world of classical antiquity in Poussin and the oriental and romantic world in Polenov.

Christ and the Woman caught in Adultery; Vassili POLENOV; 1886; oil on canvas; Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow

Olga's Gallery - Online Art Museum

Christ and the Woman caught in Adultery; Nicolas POUSSIN; 1653; oil on canvas; Musée du Louvre, Paris

Olga's Gallery - Online Art Museum

FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Lapidation

Lapidation (or stoning) was the way to apply the death penalty according to the Law of Moses. It was applied in cases of idolatry, blasphemy and adultery… Jesus, accused of blasphemy, was threatened with it but he was condemned to death by the Romans, and so he was crucified. (See Crosses)

Stephen will be the first martyr to undergo the traditional penalty of lapidation. (See Stephen)

Stoning was also the penalty applied in Islamic societies ruled by Sharia or Islamic Law. Nowadays it is still sometimes used in countries that have kept or taken up Sharia law.

The phrase “to cast the first stone” or “cast a stone at somebody” remains to designate the one who condemns readily or with good conscience, hence its generally negative use.