At the Well
Title
At the Well
Alt Text Description
Grayscale illustration of a young woman approaching a well, holding a water pitcher and a child. A youth sits on the well, looking at her with awe.
Description
After fleeing Florence and finding a plague-killed family, Romola takes the surviving child and carries him with her into the village. The image shows the clearest proof of what she becomes there: at the well, baby on her arm and pitcher in hand, she quietly keeps the sick alive, and the villagers begin to see her as a Madonna-like protector and let her lead them through the pestilence.
“..the little olive baby on her right arm now looking out with jet black eyes, she might well startle that youth of fifteen, accustomed to swing the censer in the presence of a Madonna less fair and marvellous than this. ‘She carries a pitcher in her hand — to fetch water for the sick. It is the Holy Mother, come to take care of the people who have the pestilence'" ("At t the Well", Chapter 68).
“..the little olive baby on her right arm now looking out with jet black eyes, she might well startle that youth of fifteen, accustomed to swing the censer in the presence of a Madonna less fair and marvellous than this. ‘She carries a pitcher in her hand — to fetch water for the sick. It is the Holy Mother, come to take care of the people who have the pestilence'" ("At t the Well", Chapter 68).
Illustrator
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896)
Contributor
Swain, Joseph (1820-1909), engraver
Publisher
George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org
Date
1863, 1880
Rights
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Work Illustrated
Romola
Citation
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896), At the Well, George Eliot Illustrations Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/83574
Illustration
