The Calling of St Peter

The story here comes from Luke's gospel. Peter and his crew had fished all night and caught nothing, then let the nets down once more on Christ's word and pulled in so many fish the boat nearly sank. This is that instant. Peter has dropped to his knees in the crowded boat, overwhelmed, while Christ stands calmly on the shore. Kulmbach painted it around 1514 as one panel in a set telling the lives of the apostles Peter and Paul. He gave the shore of Galilee the terms he knew: a clear northern light, still water, low hills running back to the horizon, fishermen hauling ropes as if on a German river. The catch spills silver over the side of the boat, the detail that explains why Peter is kneeling.