"The Parable of the Great Supper"

Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot or Droogsloot (1586 – May 14, 1666), was a Dutch painter of village scenes, landscapes, genre pictures, moral allegories and biblical stories. He stood in the tradition of Flemish landscape painting, particular of the village scenes as developed by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. His village scenes usually depict a broad village street leading into the distance and houses on both sides. The villages are populated with crowds of coarse peasant figures, dispersed somewhat at random. These figures are individualized and depicted in expressive poses. Droochsloot paid a lot of attention to the details in his compositions. His village scenes often carried a moral message. He had a preference for a reddish-brown palette.

In this work, Droochsloot transferred the biblical story to the outskirts of a Netherlandish town. The group of beggars and vagabonds on the left are invited to the sumptuous banquet that a wealthy man had prepared for his friends, who had excused themselves and did not attend.