The towering figure of the king – clearly identifiable by the crown on his head – is a fragment of a much larger, oval-shaped composition depicting the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1–14). This large canvas was painted by Bernardo Strozzi in about 1636 for the church of the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice and was part of the decoration for the ceiling together with the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins by Padovanino (ca. 1644), which also belongs to the Gallerie dell’Accademia (catalogue n. 627), the scene of Paradise, begun by Sante Peranda (1636) and completed by Francesco Maffei (as documented by Ridolfi), and a series of twelve Virtues which have been lost. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the church of the Incurabili was deconsecrated and stripped of its paintings and furnishings (1825), which were later partially rediscovered in the Palazzo Ducale and in the church of San Giuliano, and finally sold at auction in 1865. On this occasion, Strozzi’s painting (which was already greatly damaged) was bought by the photographer Giovanni Secretant, who extracted several swatches, saving the parts that were less damaged. In addition to this fragment of the king, there is another piece depicting a page boy, which belongs to a private collection. The two extant preparatory studies (held by the Uffizi Galleries and the Accademia Ligustica in Genoa) show what the complete composition was like. It depicts the key moment of the parable when the king metes out punishment on the guest who came to the feast dressed inappropriately, alluding to those deemed unworthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven on the Day of Judgment. The work was inventoried in two private Italian collections during the twentieth century and in 2016 it was acquired by the Italian state through compulsory purchase when it was submitted to the Export Office in Bologna.