The Wise and Foolish Virgins

The Wise and Foolish Virgins, painted around 1805 and now at the University of Dundee Fine Art Collections, illustrates the parable of Matthew 25:1-13 in which ten virgins await the bridegroom: five wise virgins who have brought extra oil for their lamps and five foolish ones who have not, and so are excluded from the marriage feast when the bridegroom arrives late. The parable was among the most frequently depicted New Testament narratives in Christian art, valued for its clearly moral lesson about spiritual preparation and for the opportunity it provided to paint multiple female figures in contrasting emotional states. Etty's treatment — a large canvas (209.5 × 167 cm) suggesting an ambitious exhibition or institutional work — combines his figure painting specialty with the religious subject matter that ran throughout his career alongside the mythological subjects for which he is primarily known. The University of Dundee's Fine Art Collections preserve this within an educational context that maintains the connection between academic practice and artistic formation.

The devotional work is executed with sensuous flesh painting, reflecting William Etty's engagement with the demands of religious painting. The composition balances narrative clarity with spiritual atmosphere, using robust modeling to heighten the sacred drama.