The Parable of the Mote and the Beam

Fetti's Parable of the Mote and the Beam, painted around 1619, illustrates Christ's teaching about hypocrisy — condemning others for small faults while ignoring one's own greater failings. This is one of Fetti's finest parable paintings from his Mantuan period, treating a theological subject with the naturalistic genre approach that was his distinctive contribution. His parable series was so successful that multiple workshop copies were produced to meet demand.

Fetti's oil-on-wood technique creates a warm, golden atmosphere with the loose, fluid brushwork that characterizes his best work. The two figures are rendered with convincing naturalism, their expressions and gestures communicating the parable's meaning with genre-like directness.