Jesus holds the sinking Peter on the sea. Artist: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Engraver: unknown. Source: Die Bibel in Bildern, Plate 194. Click on image to enlarge it.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? [Matthew 14: 30-31; King James Bible]
When Schnorr von Carolsfeld depicts a scene that does not consist of many figures, or one, as here, he can place the secondary figures int he background, he often employs an essentially triangular arrangement of two figures. Compare, for instance, his illustration of the Cain’s murder of Abel, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, Moses in prayer during the battle against the Amalakites and the variation of the triangular composition in the angel’s stopping the sacrifice of Isaac and the use of it for multiple figures in Jacob’s Ladder and The Israelites Cross the Jordan with Dry Feet.
Christ’s ministry and miracles
- The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter
- Jesus casts out the devils
- The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes
You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Hathi Digital Trust Library and the Getty Library and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.
Bibliography
Die Bibel in Bildern [Picture Bible] von Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Leipzig: Georg Wigands, 1860. Hathi Digital Trust Library online version of a copy in the Getty Library. Web. 30 June 2016.
Last modified 4 July 2016