About this artwork

This painting illustrates part of the Gospel of St Luke, which tells how Christ preached to a group of fisherman from Peter’s boat. Afterwards the men caught a marvellous amount of fish. Christ said that from then on, Peter would only fish for men. St Peter became one of Christ’s most trusted disciples. Saftleven rarely painted religious pictures, although he did attempt this particular subject more than once, probably because the story required an outdoor setting. Indeed, here the landscape takes precedence and seems to dominate the figures. Saftleven’s interpretation of the Sea of Galilee and the rocky shore reflect his awareness of the Italianate paintings by contemporary Utrecht landscape painters.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Herman Saftleven (1609 - 1685) Dutch
  • title:
    Christ Preaching from a Boat
  • date created:
    Dated 1642
  • materials:
    Oil on panel
  • measurements:
    75.00 x 108.00 cm; Framed: 93.60 x 126.60 x 6.30 cm / 20.00 kg
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequest of Mrs Nisbet Hamilton Ogilvy of Biel 1921
  • accession number:
    NG 1508
  • gallery:
  • depicted:
  • subject:
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Herman Saftleven

Herman Saftleven