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Plate Five, from Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins

A work made of engraving on paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of engraving on paper.

Date:

1606

Artist:

Jan Saenredam
Dutch, 1565-1607

About this artwork

Jan Saenredam was a Netherlandish engraver, draftsman, and mapmaker. This engraving series illustrates a parable from the book of Matthew (25:1–13). Plate four (1972.790) shows a bridegroom emerging from a doorway marked with a Christological sculpture of a lamb. He admits five wise virgins carrying full oil lamps into his wedding feast, a metaphor for heaven. 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. Plate five reveals that these foolish virgins have been barred from the feast because, when they left to replenish their lamps, they returned too late.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Jan Saenredam

Title

Plate Five, from Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins

Place

Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1606

Medium

Engraving on paper

Dimensions

Sheet, trimmed to platemark: 26.5 × 36.8 cm (10 7/16 × 14 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment

Reference Number

1972.791

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/40162/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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