Christ’s Second Visit to the House of Mary and Martha

Cornelis Engebrechtsz. painted this Christ's Second Visit to the House of Mary and Martha around 1517 for the Rijksmuseum. Engebrechtsz. was the leading painter of Leiden before his brilliant pupil Lucas van Leyden eclipsed him, and his narrative religious paintings reflect the distinctive character of the Leiden school. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

The panel demonstrates Engebrechtsz.'s characteristically angular figure style with sharp drapery folds and expressive faces, setting the domestic biblical scene in an interior with the detailed observation typical of the Leiden school.