An old tradition in the liturgical year of Sweden are four special prayer days.: They were already common in medieval times, and king Gustav I of the Vasa noble family organized eight days of prayer in succession to avoid bad weather and other national misfortune in 1588. In 1676 it was decided that the prayer days should be four, spread out over the year. Eventually they gained their individual names: the day of repentance, the day of reformation, the day of mission, and the day of thanksgiving. The first day of prayer was the day of repentance, and was celebrated in February. It was written out of the calendar in 1983, as a reform, and it's theme was transferred to Ash Wednesday.
The inspiration for this photograph is taken from Luke 7:36-43, but other versions exists in Matt 26:6, Mark 14:3, and Joh 12:1-8. The text in Luke says:
Then one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind Him at His feet weepint, she begun to wet Hes feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair, Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume.
When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, "if that man was a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching him - for she is a sinner!"
But Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me teacher," he said.
"Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one then, will love him more?"
"I suppose the one who was forgiven more," Simon replied.
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
And turning to the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not great Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since I arrived. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume. Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
The background is designed as a replica of a roman villa from the time of Jesus. In roman villas there were often images of roman gods and godesses, but it would not have been so in the home of a Jew. Therefore the walls are not adorned, and this is hopefully also a sign of a upper middle class home at the time. But not a truly wealthy mans abode.
It is of cause not possible to say that this is how it looked at the time, as two thousand years have passed. But it is a fantasy rooted in archeology and history as much as possible.