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Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

Artist: Jan Saenredam (Dutch, 1565 - 1607)

Date: c. 1605
Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 10 7/16 x 14 1/2 in. (26.5 x 36.8 cm)
Image: 9 11/16 x 14 5/16 in. (24.6 x 36.4 cm)
Framed: 16 7/8 x 22 7/8 in. (42.9 x 58.1 cm)
Credit Line:Museum Purchase
Object number: 1967.425.1C
Jan Saenredam was a Dutch engraver, draftsman, and mapmaker who studied in Haarlem. This engraving series illustrates a parable from the book of Matthew (25:1–13) which shows a bridegroom emerging from a doorway marked with a sculpture of a lamb. He admits Five Wise Virgins carrying full oil lamps into his wedding feast, a metaphor for heaven. The Five Foolish Virgins, who have wasted their oil in frivolous pursuits, beg the wise virgins to lend them oil so that they may also enter.
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