The Parable of Wise and Foolish Virgins (unfinished)

The five sagacious virgins cautiously take oil with them to refill their lamps when seeking out the path to Christ. The lamps as a symbol of faith have to be filled with the ‘oil of good deeds’. Cornelius was one of the first of the Nazarenes to take up this metaphor of charity and a Christian lifestyle. Christ steps out of the door to Paradise, held open by St. Peter, and takes the sagacious virgins kneeling before him into the Heavenly Jerusalem. By contrast, the fatuous virgins are still queuing for oil at a shop. Referencing the Last Judgment and the promise of salvation, that the Kingdom of God shall begin with Christ’s Coming, this piece of religious instruction reflects on the debate on issues of faith at that time. First sketched in 1813 in Orvieto, Cornelius continued working on it until 1816 in Florence, but it remained incomplete. In 1819, before leaving Rome, he gave it to J. A. Koch as a gift. The sculptor Thorvaldsen took it to Copenhagen, where he created the "Blessing Christ" for the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, which draws on Cornelius’ figure of Christ. It did not get given back to Koch’s heirs until 1848. (Bettina Baumgärtel)