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The Parable of the Mote and the Beam

ca. 1619
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 620
Trained in Rome, Fetti evolved a style of animated, feathery brushstrokes that allows the eye to penetrate layers of the paint surface. In 1614 Fetti moved to Mantua, where he worked for Ferdinando Gonzaga alongside his sister and pupil, Lucrina Fetti. This painting is one of thirteen illustrations of Gospel parables painted in about 1619 for Gonzaga’s studiolo (a small private study, often filled with books and art). It represents an admonition by Jesus: “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Parable of the Mote and the Beam
  • Artist: Domenico Fetti (Italian, Rome (?) 1591/92–1623 Venice)
  • Date: ca. 1619
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 24 1/8 x 17 3/8 in. (61.3 x 44.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.153
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The Good Samaritan, Domenico Fetti Italian, Oil on wood
The Good Samaritan
Domenico Fetti
ca. 1618–22
Head of a Bearded Man, Domenico Fetti Italian, Black chalk, red, yellow, and pink pastel, highlighted with white on gray-green paper
Head of a Bearded Man
Domenico Fetti
1588/89–1623
Salvator Mundi, Domenico Fetti Italian, Oil on wood
Salvator Mundi
Domenico Fetti
ca. 1622–23
The Capture of Carthage, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Oil on canvas
The Capture of Carthage
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
1725–29
Piazza San Marco, Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Italian, Oil on canvas
Piazza San Marco
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)
late 1720s

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