Parable of the Sower of Tares
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Image: Courtauld
Image: Courtauld
Maker
1589-1624
Title
Parable of the Sower of Tares
Date of Production
1620 - 1621
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
Height: 60.4 cm (panel)
Width: 44.4 cm (panel)
Width: 44.4 cm (panel)
Object Number
P.1978.PG.121
Mode of Acquisition
Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978
Credit
Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
This is one of several paintings illustrating Christian parables, commissioned from Fetti by his Gonzaga patrons in Mantua. In the parables, comparison and analogy are used to demonstrate the nature of good and evil, as taught by Jesus in the Gospels.
While several peasants sleep, the Devil spreads bad seed in a field, sowing across the furrows instead of following them. This (the sowing of tares) stands for the spreading of heresy in the church.
While several peasants sleep, the Devil spreads bad seed in a field, sowing across the furrows instead of following them. This (the sowing of tares) stands for the spreading of heresy in the church.
Provenance
Princes Gate Bequest 1978
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