Der wunderbare Fischzug

When Konrad Witz painted this panel in 1444 for the cathedral in Geneva, he did something almost no one had done before. The Gospel story happens on the Sea of Galilee, but Witz set it on water he could actually see, Lake Geneva, with the real shoreline behind it. Those snow-capped peaks in the distance are Mont Blanc and the blunt shape of Le Môle, painted from observation rather than imagination. You can still stand near the lake today and pick out the same skyline. It is usually called the earliest faithful portrait of a specific landscape in European art. Peter clambers over the side of the boat toward Christ, and beneath the clear water you can make out his legs, refracted and bent where they break the surface.