Santi di Tito
Sansepolcro (Arezzo), Italy, 1536-Florence, 1603
Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well, mid-1570s
Oil on canvas.
In a scene from Genesis, Abraham�s servant, Eliezer, meets Rebecca at a well and chooses her to be the bride of Abraham�s son Isaac. Santi has distilled their encounter to its narrative and compositional essence. The monumental scale, simple shapes, and foreshortening indicate that the painting was an altarpiece, probably in a large church. The first Florentine to react explicitly against the ambiguities and artifice of Mannerism, while upholding the rigorous drawing and superb execution that were the school�s trademarks, Santi led a reform of its religious painting.