The Rich Man (Dives) and Lazarus 

Basic Info

Luke 16:19–31

The setup for this story is that Jesus had been explaining the Parable of the Dishonest Steward to his disciples, telling them that those who are trustworthy on small issues will be so in large ones and vice versa. He ended the talk with the saying about no one being able to serve two masters, an earthly one and a divine one, because inevitably one will be preferred to the other. The Pharisees (who Luke reports as loving money) had heard this teaching and they scoff at Jesus. Jesus replies to them with three sayings and the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The Latin for “rich man” is dives so sometimes the artworks will be entitled Dives and Lazarus. To be clear, this is a different Lazarus than Lazarus of Bethany who Jesus raised from the dead.

In the parable, the rich man is said to dress in luxurious purple robes and eat sumptuous meals. Lying at the door of this Rich Man’s house is a poor man named Lazarus, who has sores that the dogs lick. Lazarus is hungry and would love the rich man’s scraps, but he gets nothing. Lazarus dies and is taken by angels to Abraham. The rich man dies and is tormented in the underworld. The rich man cries to Abraham to let Lazarus dip his finger in water and touch the rich man’s tongue with it to cool it. Abraham basically tells the rich man that he had a good life while alive and Lazarus didn’t. Lazarus is now being comforted. The rich man then asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers. Abraham replies that if they didn’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they aren’t going to listen to a man who comes back from the dead.

The art tradition has sometimes not treated this as a parable but rather as a biography of the rich man and Lazarus. Other times it has focused on a comparison of Heaven and hell based on the story. Sometimes it has been interpreted as a prediction about how Jesus would be received (as a man who returned from the dead with a message). A fourth interpretation is more consistent with the story’s being a parable. It has to do with the wealthy believing that their riches mean that God’s has favored them and that it is a sign that they will join God in Heaven eventually. This latter belief recurs often in history. Thus the expectation, common among Jesus’ listeners, is that the rich man is favored by God. The twist in the parable is that the rich man ends up in torment.

What to Look For

• Whether the moment depicted is before death, after death, or both
• The clothing on the rich man and Lazarus
• The physical condition of Lazarus and the rich man
• Whether the artist includes a dog licking Lazarus’ sores
• The scene around Lazarus and Abraham
• The hellish scene around the rich man after death

Questions to Focus a General Interpretation

Which interpretation of the story does the artwork seem to emphasize? that this really occurred? that it is about the distinction between heaven and hell? that Jesus’ message will be scorned by the wealthy? or that the expectation that wealth is a measure of God’s favor is turned upside down?

How does the artwork depict Heaven and hell?

How does the artwork set up the distinction between wealth and poverty?

Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation

Does the artwork seem to relate the rich man’s torment to the simple fact of his being rich or to his treatment of Lazarus? Does the depiction of Lazarus bring to mind anyone in your world?

Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation

What was going on in the artist’s time and place that might have influenced the emphasis the artist chose (famine, plague, corruption)?

Are the garments on the rich man in the artwork similar to the garments worn by any class or group of people in the artist’s time and place? What might the artist be implying about that class or group?

A Reflection on an Artwork Depicting the Rich Man and Lazarus