The Parable of the Vineyard (one of a set of 12 scenes from The Life of Christ)
Jan Rombouts South Netherlandish (Duchy of Brabant)
The parable of the vineyard appears only in the Gospel of Matthew. Rombouts, who was both designer and painter, produced many works with stories from the New Testament. He created this window, and others nearby, as one of a set of twelve scenes from the life of Christ. Rombouts’s pieces feature complex compositions and Italianizing elements. The details of the figures’ faces and fields in the background were painted in grisaille on clear pieces of glass, with paint in shades of black, gray, and brown.