The Feast in the House of Simon

This Feast in the House of Simon from 1491 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art depicts the biblical scene where Mary Magdalene washes Christ's feet with her tears and anoints them with precious ointment at a Pharisee's dinner. The subject combines sinfulness, repentance, and divine forgiveness in one psychologically dense moment—the reformed woman's extravagant devotion contrasting with the host's skeptical calculation. Painted in the early 1490s as Botticelli's spiritual intensity deepened under Savonarolan influence, this work shows his characteristic combination of architectural precision, varied physiognomy, and emotional directness. Philadelphia's acquisition documents American museum collecting of Florentine Renaissance painting through the early twentieth century.

The feast is arranged within a perspective architectural setting, Botticelli's precise drawing organizing the numerous figures and the elaborate table with the narrative clarity and decorative refinement characteristic of his mature style.