The parable is about the Gospel of Luke : a traveller was attacked, robbed and left behind, heavily injured. A priest and a Levite passed the man without showing mercy. Yet the Samaritan attended to the injured traveller and brought him to an inn (Luke 10.30-35). A landscape opens up to the right, with two figures recognizable in the far distance (the priest) and further to the front (the Levite). Rembrandt must have known this painting well as Lastman never sold it.

Below is an article in the Burlington magazine about the re-discovery of this important work.