The Banquet in the House of Simon the Pharisee

Discussion

FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

Subleyras based this etching on his own painting of the same subject, commissioned by the Order of Saint John Lateran for the dining room of their monastery in Asti, Italy. The lively banquet scene includes an episode from the Gospel of Luke in which Simon the Pharisee, a Jewish religious leader, invites Christ to have dinner with him. During the meal, a notoriously sinful woman enters the feast, washes Christ’s feet with her tears, and dries them with her hair. Subleyras placed Christ and the woman at the far right end of the table, where Simon leans over them, wondering why Christ would let a sinful woman touch him.

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