{"id":4303,"date":"2025-03-24T14:27:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T18:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/?p=4303"},"modified":"2025-03-24T14:28:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T18:28:56","slug":"pierre-subleyras-meal-at-the-house-of-simon-the-pharisee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/pierre-subleyras-meal-at-the-house-of-simon-the-pharisee\/","title":{"rendered":"Pierre Subleyras Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column4303_189972-f6{max-width:100%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal:not(.kb-section-md-dir-vertical)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column4303_189972-f6{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column4303_189972-f6{position:relative;}@media all and (min-width: 1025px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-dir-horizontal>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column4303_189972-f6{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;max-width:unset;margin-left:unset;margin-right:unset;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-column.kb-section-sm-dir-vertical:not(.kb-section-sm-dir-horizontal):not(.kb-section-sm-dir-specificity)>.kt-inside-inner-col>.kadence-column4303_189972-f6{max-width:100%;-webkit-flex:1;flex:1;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}.kadence-column4303_189972-f6 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column4303_189972-f6 mobile-section\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"774\" height=\"114\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png\" alt=\"Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection\" class=\"wp-image-2922\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo.png 774w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-300x44.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/lynch-logo-768x113.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4303_7f37cb-d8 .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4303_7f37cb-d8 .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4303_7f37cb-d8 .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-4303_7f37cb-d8\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Pierre Subleyras (1699\u20131749)<\/strong><br><em>Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee<\/em>, c. 1737<br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil on canvas<br>McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, 1988.38<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras.jpg\" alt=\"Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee\" class=\"wp-image-4304\" style=\"width:1202px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-300x118.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-1024x404.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-768x303.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-not-stacked-on-mobile has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#f1f1f1\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>Nancy Netzer<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><br>Inaugural Robert L. and Judith T. Winston Director, McMullen Museum and Professor, Art History<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/netzer-5.jpg\" alt=\"Nancy Netzer\" class=\"wp-image-4148\" style=\"width:78px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/netzer-5.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/netzer-5-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1482\" height=\"454\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-louvre.jpg\" alt=\"Meal at the House of Simon Pharisee (Pierre Subleyras)\" class=\"wp-image-4305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-louvre.jpg 1482w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-louvre-300x92.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-louvre-1024x314.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/subleyras-louvre-768x235.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1482px) 100vw, 1482px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pierre Subleyras,\u00a0<em>Meal at the House of Simon Pharisee<\/em>, 1737. Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/veronese-1024x396.jpg\" alt=\"Meal at the House of Simon Pharisee (Paolo Veronese)\" class=\"wp-image-4306\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/veronese-1024x396.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/veronese-300x116.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/veronese-768x297.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/veronese-1536x593.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/03\/veronese-2048x791.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Paolo Veronese,\u00a0<em>Meal at the House of Simon Pharisee<\/em>, 1567\u201370. Oil on canvas, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>Pierre Subleyras left France in 1728 when he was awarded a prestigious Grand Prix by the Acad\u00e9mie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture to study in Rome. He worked in that city as one of the most celebrated painters, draftsmen, and printmakers for the rest of his life. In 1737 Subleyras received his greatest commission from the Canons Regular of St. Augustine at the Lateran for a monumental painting of the&nbsp;<em>Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee<\/em>&nbsp;(see image) to hang in the refectory of their monastery, Santa Maria Nuova at Asti, near Turin. Napoleon\u2019s armies seized the painting in 1799, transporting it to Paris where it eventually became the property of the Louvre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The McMullen painting, along with another in the Louvre and one in the Gem\u00e4ldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, appears to be either a preliminary sketch for or a smaller version of the Asti painting. Shortly after its completion in 1738, Subleyras produced an engraving to circulate the image of his famous painting, and in 1748 Subleyras\u2019s wife, Maria Tibaldi, completed a miniature copy in watercolor on vellum (now in the Musei Capitolini in Rome) based on one of the smaller oil sketches.<sup>1<\/sup>&nbsp;The scene of a sumptuous banquet captured in a moment of time follows the tradition of biblical paintings, with attention to still life details inspired by the Venetian Renaissance artist Paolo Veronese (1528\u201388) (see image).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The composition in all the versions is nearly the same with minor differences. In the monumental painting, Subleyras has the serving boy in the foreground face Christ, thereby enhancing the drama; in the smaller versions the boy turns toward the viewer. All depict the story from Luke 7:36\u201350 recounting that Christ agreed to dine at the home of an ungracious host, Simon the Pharisee, who did not offer him the usual hospitality. During the meal, a penitent prostitute, depicted on the left, knelt to wash Christ\u2019s feet with her tears and tresses and anointed them with oil from an alabaster container, which lies open on the floor. Reclining on a couch and standing out in red and blue, Christ forgives and blesses the woman. The servers behind and in the foreground halt their tasks for the feast to observe the prostitute\u2019s actions. Her remorse and desire to serve Christ provide a lesson to Simon, the host, one of the two turbaned figures conferring at the other end of the table about what they have witnessed. The narrative\u2019s themes of charity and penitence would have contributed to the painting\u2019s popularity and would have stimulated discourse among Catholics during the Enlightenment and among travelers to Asti on the Grand Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ub-divider ub_divider ub-divider-orientation-horizontal\" id=\"ub_divider_86d1c3a0-2b17-4690-ba6c-e2208ae94b6a\"><div class=\"ub_divider_wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; margin-bottom: 2px; width: 100%; height: 2px; \" data-divider-alignment=\"center\"><div class=\"ub_divider_line\" style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 2px; \"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>1. For discussion of the various versions and preliminary sketches of individual figures see Olivier Michel and Pierre Rosenberg, eds.\u00a0<em>Subleyras, 1699\u20131749<\/em>\u00a0(Paris: Mus\u00e9e du Luxembourg, 1987), nos. 33\u201341.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4303_7120ae-e8 .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4303_7120ae-e8 .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#f1f1f1;width:100%;border-top-style:solid;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-4303_7120ae-e8 .kt-divider{width:100%!important;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-4303_7120ae-e8\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"383\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png\" alt=\"Logo Gold\" class=\"wp-image-2910\" style=\"width:569px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-1024x383.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold-768x287.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/01\/mcmullen-logo-gold.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pierre Subleyras (1699\u20131749)Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee, c. 1737 Oil on canvasMcMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, 1988.38 Nancy NetzerInaugural Robert L. and Judith T. Winston Director, McMullen Museum and Professor, Art History Pierre Subleyras left France in 1728 when he was awarded a prestigious Grand Prix by the Acad\u00e9mie Royale de [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"margaret-sandbox","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/author\/margaret-sandbox\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4307,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4303\/revisions\/4307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bc.edu\/museum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}