Feast in the House of Simon 1690s

Melchior Steidl made this pen and brown ink drawing, Feast in the House of Simon, sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century. It illustrates a scene from the New Testament, and it allows us to consider the role of religious imagery in early modern Europe. Steidl was working in Austria at a time when the Catholic Church was a major patron of the arts. Religious institutions like the Church shaped artistic production and the consumption of art. In this drawing, we see Christ reclining at a banquet, while Mary Magdalene washes his feet. It is a scene of wealth and privilege, and it shows the importance of religious figures in society. Such images reinforced the church's teaching and reminded viewers of its authority. By studying religious art, such as this, we can learn much about the social and political history of its time. Through meticulous archival research, we can begin to understand the complex interplay between art, religion, and power.