Rebecca went to the well outside her city and encountered a stranger who identified her as the answer to his prayers. The backstory, according to Genesis 24:11–22, is that the aged Abraham wanted a wife for his son Isaac and sent his senior steward to his homeland of Mesopotamia to find a suitable woman. Tired after his long journey, the steward stopped at a well and prayed for guidance. When Rebecca came to get water, she offered it to the old man and his camels, and he recognized her as the appointed bride and presented her with the betrothal jewels of a gold earring and two bracelets. In Veronese’s depiction, the jewels are offered by a kneeling servant, while Abraham’s steward stands behind him.
This painting is one of a series of ten biblical scenes by Veronese or his workshop, five of which show scenes from the Old Testament and five from the New. Based on their style, they date from the 1580s, the last decade of the painter’s life. The ten canvases are nearly identical in size and shape and were clearly commissioned as a cycle for a particular building, but the identity of the patron remains a mystery.