The painting depicts the biblical story (Luke X, 30-6) which tells of a Jewish man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho who was set upon by robbers, beaten, stripped of his clothing and left half dead by the roadside. A priest and a Levite (seen in the background), who might have been expected to assist him, passed by on the other side, but a Samaritan stopped to help him (which was especially remarkable because Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other). The Samaritan bound up the man's wounds, put him on his donkey – here transformed into an elegant horse – and took him to an inn, where he paid the innkeeper to look after him.

The artist, Sir Charles Eastlake, lived for many years in Italy and was a great admirer of the Venetian artist, Titian. The beautiful naked body of the traveller, the gentle downwards gaze of the Samaritan, the soft Venetian colours and the tree outlined delicately against the sky are all reminiscent of Titian's work. Eastlake also noted that Venetian artists united the rugged and romantic forms of the higher Alps, seen in the background of this painting, with the richness of the plains, visible in the lush foliage depicted in the foreground. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850.

Signed and dated: C.L. Eastlake / 1850. Inscribed on the back with the title, the artist and the date, 1850.