Plate One, from Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins
1606
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
Sheet, trimmed to platemark: 26.5 × 36.7 cm (10 7/16 × 14 1/2 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
40150
Art Historical Context
Jan Saenredam’s 1606 engraving *Plate One, from Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins* brings to life a well-known biblical parable from the Gospel of Matthew. Created during the Dutch Golden Age, the print captures the moment when ten young women await a bridegroom, five prepared with oil for their lamps and five unprepared. Saenredam, a skilled Dutch printmaker, translated this moral lesson into a finely detailed composition that would have resonated with viewers familiar with Protestant teachings on vigilance and faith. As an engraving on paper, the work exemplifies the reproductive power of ...
About the Artist
Jan Saenredam · 1565–1607
Jan Pieterszoon Saenredam (c. 1565–1607) emerged from humble beginnings in the Dutch village of Assendelft, where he was orphaned young and raised by his uncle, the local bailiff Pieter de Jongh. Initially destined for basket weaving or farm work, Saenredam's precocious talent for embellishing texts with intricate designs caught attention, leading to an apprenticeship in cartography. By 1589, at a...