Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen: The Calling of St. John during the Marriage at Cana (ca. 1530); Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

When I first saw this work of Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen (1503-1559), The Calling of St. John during the Marriage at Cana, I estimated it to be much younger than it really was. The main reason for that mistake was the high-contrast lighting, the intimate atmosphere and the complicated arrangement of the figures.
Art historians tend to call such elements in paintings ‘Caravaggesque’, after the Italian painter Caravaggio (1571—1610), who became very famous for this style. Vermeyen’s picture, though, was probably painted around 1530, four decades before Caravaggio was even born!
Vermeyen was praised by his contemporaries for his original compositions and personal style, even in higher circles. He worked as a court artist for mighty people like Emperor Charles V and Margaret of Austria, the regent of the Netherlands. For whom Vermeyen created this intriguing piece of art is not fully clear.