Dinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee

Moretto da Brescia's Dinner in the House of Simon the Pharisee depicts the scene from Luke 7 in which the penitent woman washes Christ's feet with her tears during a dinner at a Pharisee's home. The scene, which demonstrates divine mercy for repentant sinners against the Pharisee's judgmental incomprehension, was a central Counter-Reformation subject emphasizing the accessibility of divine forgiveness. Moretto places the scene in a contemporary Italian architectural interior, following the Venetian tradition of historical transposition, and distributes figures around a long table in a composition that reflects awareness of Leonardo's Last Supper while adapting the format to his own more naturalistic manner.

The expansive composition accommodates numerous figures around a long table, with Moretto's attention to tableware, food, and textile details demonstrating his observational naturalism.