A parable. Ten maidens at night. Five of them carry lit oil lamps, they are the wise virgins; the other five carry the same lamps that are extinguished, they are the foolish or silly ones. The latter will not take part in the feast when the Bridegroom arrives.

Now the Bridegroom has arrived, and the wise virgins welcome him with their lamps and kneel down. Whereas the foolish virgins are agitated in the background, trying to find someone ready to sell them some oil. For they have no longer any oil, they have burnt it all before the feast. They are improvident.

In this picture, the messianic meaning of the parable is unveiled: the Bridegroom is definitely Christ, accompanied by Peter with his keys, the wise virgins are in the light of the kingdom of God whereas the foolish ones, still looking for oil, have been rejected to the bottom of darkness.

The maidens are often separated into two groups of five, but they can form a more complex composition, one of them with an extinguished lamp speaking to another whose lamp is lit.

Their dresses are beautiful for this is a wedding. But the attitudes, clothes and headdresses of the two groups are often opposed. The former maidens wear sober clothes and behave with restraint movements whereas the others, those who have no longer any oil, are provocative and gesticulating. They are busy with futile objects: mirrors, musical instruments or books… They can also wake up suddenly because they are lazy…

The landscape is sometimes filled with opposed symbols: a living olive tree against a dead tree, a wise dog against a barking dog…

The presence of the Bridegroom is extremely varied. He may arrive in the distance or, on the reverse, be already inside the banqueting hall with the wise virgins whereas the silly ones are always outside.