Artwork
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (March)
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (March) is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Marten van Valckenborch. It dates from 1593 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Overview
Marten van Valckenborch’s oil painting *Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (March)* was executed in 1593. The work belongs to the late‑Renaissance Mannerist style and presents a rural genre scene set against a hilly townscape. It is part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s collection in Vienna.
Subject & Meaning
20” reference the biblical parable in which workers receive equal wages regardless of the hours they have labored.
The composition portrays four laborers engaged in vineyard work: one holds a staff, another carries a basket, a third leans on a shovel, and the fourth bends over the ground. A small town with a church and scattered houses rises behind them. The title and the inscription “MAJTVS MAT. CAP. 20” reference the biblical parable in which workers receive equal wages regardless of the hours they have labored.
Technique & Style
Van Valckenborch employs a muted palette and a pronounced chiaroscuro, using strong contrasts of light and shadow to model the figures and the uneven, muddy terrain. The landscape is rendered with exaggerated perspective and elongated forms, typical of Mannerist composition, while the swirling clouds in the sky add a dramatic, atmospheric quality.
History & Provenance
Born in the Spanish Netherlands, van Valckenborch later settled in Frankfurt, where he worked alongside his extended family of painters. The painting entered the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s holdings in the 19th century, where it remains on display as part of the museum’s Flemish Renaissance collection.
Context
The work reflects the cross‑regional artistic exchange of the late 16th century, merging Flemish landscape traditions with the emerging Mannerist aesthetic of Central Europe. Its biblical subject aligns with contemporary moralizing themes, while the detailed village setting offers insight into the everyday labor and architecture of the period.
Artist & collection
Artist
Marten van Valckenborch or Marten van Valckenborch the Elder (1535 in Leuven – 1612 in Frankfurt), was a Flemish Renaissance painter, mainly known for his landscapes and city scapes.
Feeding the Five Thousand (July)
Noli me tangere (April)
Christ defends the plucking of the ears of grain on the Sabbath (August)
Gleichnis von den bösen Winzern (Oktober)
Parable of the lily of the field (May)
Adoration of the Magi (January)
Parable of Christ as the Good Shepherd (June)
Parable of the sower (September)
