ARNALDO “MARCOLINO” MAAS

(Rotterdam, Holland, 1909 – Veracruz, Mexico, 1981)

The Good Samaritan, 1949

Stained glass

MAB’s permanent collection

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The representation of the good Samaritan comes from a parable that appears in the Gospel of Luke. It is about a man who goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho and on the way is attacked and robbed by bandits who leave him mortally wounded. A priest and a Levite (from the tribe of Levi, in charge of tending the temple) pass by on the road, but they do not stop to help. It is then that a man originally from Samaria, a region of ancient Canaan, approaches and treats the wounds with oil and wine. In this stained glass, the wounded man appears lying on bloody ground. The Samaritan stands, with his face bowed in an act of mercy, he extends his right hand to the wounded man and in his left hand he holds a jar. He is accompanied by his horse. In the distance, you can see a road that leads to a city and at the end, a church. For ancient Christians, the Good Samaritan was a metaphor for Jesus.

This artist of Dutch origin was co-assistant of the Nuestra Señora del Rosario parish in Yauco in 1936 and then of Santa Cruz in the old town of Bayamón. In 1947, he studied painting at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus. That same year, he founded his workshop in the Episcopal Palace in Old San Juan. In 1961, he began directing the Glass and Lead Workshop of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.