He sits in white in the boat and leans forward.
Bible in art · Luke
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (La pêche miraculeuse)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
The nets have come up so full that the men can hardly hold them. Tissot filled the lower half of the sheet with silver fish spilling over the side of the boat, and fishermen leaning out to haul in the mesh.
Above them, in the second boat, Jesus sits in white and leans forward with an open hand, while a man kneels at his feet with his face to the deck. The shore of the lake, with its rocks and bushes, rises behind.
From the text
- “let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4)
- “they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear” (Luke 5:6)
- Their partners in the other boat come to help (Luke 5:7)
The artist’s own
- Fishermen in headbands and sleeveless robes
- A man bowing at Jesus’ feet — Simon falls at his knees a little later in the story (Luke 5:8)
Details
Jesus
Bowing down
A man kneels with his face to the deck.
Hauling in
A bearded fisherman leans out to pull the net.
The catch
Silver fish spill out of the net into the boat.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.87) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".