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
The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ simply stated that the work revealed Christopher Smart's poetry as being "unequal" and of "the lower class", and while it "may certainly be of use" to children, it could not "please their imaginations, or improve their taste in poetry." Like the "Hymns for the Amusement of Children", Smart's "The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" were designed to teach morals to the young. However, Smart believed that salvation would not require a strong intellectual understanding of the Bible. In order to fulfill this belief, Smart created his "Parables" by altering the original Biblical parables, in order to simplify