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This painting shows Christ's parable of the great supper (Luke, chapter 14), in which the lame and the blind are invited to a rich man's supper in place of others who had declined his invitation. The parable illustrates the lesson that "whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted". Joost Cornelis Droochsloot, with his son Cornelis, produced small paintings of peasant life on an almost industrial scale in Utrecht in the first half of the seventeenth century, for domestic interiors. Occasionally however they produced larger pictures on charitable and moralistic themes, such as this one, suitable for the corridors, refectories and mantelpieces of hospitals and asylums. The artist was himself a regent (governor) of St Job’s hospital in Utrecht and painted pictures both for that hospital and for the St Barbara and St Laurence hospital in the city.
Title
The Halt and the Blind Being Summoned to the Great Supper
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 110.5 x W 193.5 cm
Accession number
45078i
Acquisition method
purchased by Henry S. Wellcome, 1925
Work type
Painting