Artwork
The Wedding at Cana
The Wedding at Cana is an oil painting by the Symbolist artist Niels Larsen Stevns. It dates from 1916 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Technique & Style
Created in 1916 by Niels Larsen Stevns, The Wedding at Cana is executed in oil paint on a canvas support.
Created in 1916 by Niels Larsen Stevns, The Wedding at Cana is executed in oil paint on a canvas support. The work measures 146 cm in height and 225.5 cm in width, presenting a substantial scale for this religious depiction. Classified as a religious painting, the piece belongs to the genre of religious art, utilizing the traditional medium of oil to render the biblical scene of the Marriage at Cana. The painting is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
History & Provenance
The painting titled The Wedding at Cana was created in 1916 by Danish artist Niels Larsen Stevns, who specialized in religious subjects and worked primarily in oil on canvas. It measures 1460 cm in height by 2255 cm in width and portrays the biblical scene of the Marriage at Cana. The work entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains on display, reflecting a continuous ownership chain from its creation to the present.
The painting was completed and likely commissioned within the same year, as indicated by its inception date of January 1, 1916.
The Wedding at Cana by Niels Larsen Stevns is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, as indicated by both the artwork's classification data and its Wikidata record. No specific inventory number or accession identifier is documented in the available sources.
No exhibition history is recorded in the provided sources for this work.
Overview
Created in 1916 by Danish artist Niels Larsen Stevns, this oil painting portrays the biblical episode of the Marriage at Cana. The composition centers on a long banquet table crowded with figures, while two robed individuals with luminous halos dominate the middle, their gestures suggesting a moment of significance within the festive gathering.
Subject & Meaning
The work interprets the New Testament miracle of water turned into wine, yet it presents the event as an ordinary feast rather than a grand spectacle. By placing the holy couple among diners and conversational guests, Stevns underscores the integration of the divine into everyday life, inviting contemplation of sacred presence within mundane celebration.
Context
The canvas reflects Stevns’s growing fascination with early Christian and Byzantine visual language, a preoccupation that would later inform his contributions to the decorative program of Viborg Cathedral. Within the broader Symbolist movement, the painting merges narrative content with stylized form, aligning the artist’s personal spiritual inquiry with contemporary trends in European art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Niels Larsen Stevns (9 July 1864 – 27 September 1941) was a Danish painter and sculptor.
