The Banquet of the Rich Glutton name "Epulone" has been attached in Italy to the rich man, but also generically refers to a "feaster" (with pejorative gluttonous suggestion). The etymology of the word comes from a banquet sometime prepared in honor of the gods. The painting depicts a rich man after completion of his meal, with empty plates, surrounded by servants, while in the background, is the beggar Lazarus. The painting was purchased in 1895 from a Monte di Pietà, where such a painting would have resonated as both a "memento mori" and counsel towards charity. The painting would have been thematically antithetical to the still
Behold the Man (novel) way to Nazareth in search of Jesus. When he finds Mary and Joseph, Mary turns out to be little more than a whore, and Joseph, a bitter old man, sneers openly at her claim to have been impregnated by an angel. Worse, their child Jesus is a profoundly intellectually disabled hunchback who incessantly repeats the only word he knows: "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." Karl, however, is so deeply committed to the idea of a real, historical Jesus that, at this point, he himself begins to step into the role, gathering followers, repeating what parables he can recall, and using psychological tricks