Southern Netherlandish, Antwerp, early 16th century | Pays-Bas méridionaux, Anvers, début du XVIe siècle

The Miraculous Catch of Fish is a subject rarely seen in northern late-Gothic wood sculpture. The present relief depicts three male figures aboard a boat, with a bearded one - probably the Apostle Peter, or possibly Christ - casting down a net.

According to the Gospel of Luke (5:1-11), Christ saw two boats on the Sea of Galilee, one of which was led by Simon Peter, who had been fishing unsuccessfully. Christ urged him and his men to let down their nets one more time, whereupon they caught more fish than the boat could carry. The astonished Peter fell at Christ's knees and said, 'Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord', to which Christ responded, 'Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.' Consequently, Peter and his partners, James and John, became Christ's disciples.

Based on stylistic aspects, the present relief was probably carved in Antwerp in the early 16th century and would have been intended for an altarpiece with scenes from the Life of Christ. A set of Antwerp reliefs with related subjects, including Christ Walking on the Water, was sold at Sotheby's London on 8 July 1976 (lots 29-37).

A wood group depicting the same subject in a similar composition is in the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen (inv. no. SK 28), most recently attributed to the early 16th-century Cologne sculptor Wilhelm von Arborch (see Koja, op. cit.). There, the bearded Saint Peter is kneeling on the boat before a now-lost figure of Christ.

RELATED LITERATURE

E. G. Grimme, Europäische Bildwerke vom Mittelalter zum Barock, cat. Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen, Cologne, 1977, pp. 33-34, no. 48, fig. 43; H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerpse retabels, 15de-16de eeuw, cat. exp. Museum voor Religieuze Kunst Antwerpen, Anvers, 1993, vol. I; S. Koja (ed.), Raffael: Macht der Bilder. Die Tapisserien und ihre Wirkung, exh. cat. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, 2020, pp. 186-187