Christ in the House of Simon

The meal is an act of hospitality on the part of the Pharisee. But the dinner with Jesus is overshadowed by the devotions of a repentant sinner, who washes the Lord's feet.

Christ in the House of Simon

Luke's Gospel tells that Jesus was one day invited to a meal by a Pharisee named Simon. As Jesus was sitting at the table, a wellknown city prostitute came into the host's house with a jar of perfumed ointment. She crouched at Jesus' feet and began to kiss them, bathing them in tears, wiping them with her hair, and anointing them with the ointment. As the Pharisee watched, he thought to himself that if Jesus really was a prophet he would surely have known that the woman was a public sinner and would have recoiled from her'attentions. Jesus then turned to him and presented him with an allegorical image: "A certain creditor had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii and :he other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" The Pharisee replied without hesitation that it would cer¬tainly be the one with the greater debt. Christ agreed ,md provided an explanation of the story's symbolism: in spite of her sinfulness, the great love she showed meant that her sins were forgiven, ror those who have shown great love enjoy divine forgiveness. Jesus then turned to the woman and said: "Your sins are forgiven" and then "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Sources

Luke 7:36-50

Iconography

This proved a very popular subject in Italian and other European art, especially in the Middle Ages and the 17th century. There are a great many examples up to the r8th century. The rea­sons for its success are the usual ones: banquet scenes allowed artists to depict luxurious interiors, while at the same time the biblical reference provided the moral lesson of the sinner redeemed

Gabriel Malesskircher, The Feast in the House of Simon. 15th century. Nuremberg, Germanischcs Nationalmuseum.

·         Christ sits in the place of honor at the head of the table.

·         The feast is a demonstration of the Pharisees hospitality, hut it is also where Christ publicly forgives the sinful woman from the city.

·         Given the Gospel context, the bread and wine on the table are symbols of the Eucharist.

·         The hair and ointment jar show that the artist has identified the sinful woman as Mary Magdalene.

·         The tablecloth, typical of Perugian manufacture, contains an allusion to the communion table, since this kind of cloth was much used for liturgical purposes.