Parabel van de arbeiders in de wijngaard 1534 - 1535

Georg Pencz made this tiny print, “Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard,” sometime in the 1500s. It’s an etching – a process where lines are bitten into a metal plate with acid, then filled with ink and printed. The material quality of the print, especially the fine lines, is crucial here. Pencz had to be a highly skilled craftsman to achieve this level of detail. Notice the contrast between the wealthy man in fine robes, and the laborers, who are literally working the earth. The print visualizes a biblical story in which all laborers, regardless of when they started working, get the same wage. This imagery, made available through the relatively new technology of printmaking, would have been very relevant during the Reformation, when questions of labor, class, and fairness were hotly debated. It reminds us that even seemingly simple images can be powerful statements about the social order.