070607_Miraculous_fish_catch_Raphael_1519.txt

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Raphael 1483 – 1520

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes
tapestry (490 × 441 cm) — ca. 1519
Vatican Museums, Vatican City

Raphael biography

This work is linked to Luke 5:6

Pope Leo X had Raphael design ten draperies for the lower parts of the walls in the Sistine Chapel. In 1515 and 1516 Raphael made his cartoons; they were made into draperies of wool and silk in the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aelst, in Brussels. Seven cartoons have survived and are kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Four of the draperies show scenes from the life of Peter, the other six are about Paul.

This cartoon shows the Lake of Gennesaret, better known as Lake Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee. Peter, who at the time was still called Simon, had been out on the lake all night but had not caught any fish. Jesus asked him to let him address a crowd from his boat. Afterwards Jesus told Peter to throw out his nets once more. When he hauled them in, Peter had never seen so much fish. He immediately joined Jesus, soon followed by his fellow-fishermen James and John.
For a cartoon with Paul, see Paul in Athens.