Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

In this painting Jan Sanders van Hemessen, one of the most successful artists of his day, dramatically portrays a biblical parable about mercy and hypocrisy. The story, told by Christ in the Gospel of Matthew (18:21–35), begins with a servant who owes his king a tremendous sum of money. The king shows mercy and forgives his servant’s debt; but when the same servant later refuses to forgive a trifling debt owed him by another man, the king reverses his earlier judgment and orders the unmerciful servant cast into prison. The lesson of this tale is that God will be equally merciless to those who do not show forgiveness to others.

Hemessen’s figures fill the foreground of the painting, and their expressive faces and animated gestures create an arresting effect. On the left the king raises an accusing finger toward the servant, who sits anxiously on the right with his hands intertwined. Between them sit two men, one carefully counting coins and the other looking up at the king before making a note in his ledger. As the servant’s initial fate is decided, a window gives onto a view of the concluding scene of the story, in which he gets his just reward.
There is some evidence that this painting was made for the office of a municipal tax collector in northern Holland—an appropriate location to ponder the lessons of the parable.

This painting is oil on panel and measures 39 3/8 in. x 5 ft. 8 1/4 in. x 2 1/4 in.