The Marriage at Cana

In this night scene - a novelty in painting at the time - Vermeyen succeeded in creating a dramatic effect. Candlelight plays over the faces and casts dark shadows. For the flames, Vermeyen used gold leaf. He was well ahead of his time: only around 1600 did the nocturn as a genre become more widely known through the Italian artist Caravaggio.

The subject of this candle-lit scene of a group of people sitting at table is very probably the calling of St John the Evangelist during the wedding feast at Cana. The painting depicts a moment that preceded the miracle. According to a late-medieval tradition, the wedding feast at Cana celebrated the marriage of John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalen. Seated in the centre behind the table are the beardless John and his bride, with the apostles Peter and Andrew to the left of them, at the moment when the meal is being served.

In the foreground the Virgin Mary turns to her right and grasps the shoulder of the servant who tells her that there is no wine. When she passes the news on to Christ he reacts dismissively. She then tells the servants to follow the instructions of her son, who tells them to fill the barrels with water, whereupon it turns into wine (John 2:3-10). At that moment John realises that there is a higher purpose to life and that he must follow Christ. He, ultimately followed by Mary Magdalen, opted for a spiritual rather than a physical marriage. Although the bridal couple can be identified as John and Mary Magdalen in several scenes of the marriage at Cana from Giotto to Hyeronimus Bosch, the barrels of water alluding to the miracle are always shown.