All three of our artworks depict an ethereal and majestic Christ standing on the left side of the composition and gesturing to his disciples, who adopt attitudes of reception, whether to his word or to his miraculous, sacramental food.

In Lambert Sustris’s painting, it is Peter alone who gazes at Christ and ventures to come to him, even from a distance. Duccio’s composition similarly features Peter coming first to Christ, though all seven are near to him and most gaze at him. In the Rossano illumination, the six disciples are unidentifiable, and all come to Christ in postures of thanksgiving and reception.

Unlike the Sustris and the Duccio works, the Rossano illumination does not explicitly depict the events of John 21, nor any single scriptural episode. Instead, it depicts the Communion of the Apostles, an archetypal sacrament reflected in the eucharistic liturgy at every mass. Yet although the Rossano miniature is non-narrative in character, it has any number of scriptural resonances and exegeses, as can be seen in the prophetic speech boxes below it. Arguably, John 21:12–13 also fits among these verses:

Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish [my emphasis].

This passage is reminiscent of Luke 22:16, which is recited by the celebrant during the consecration of the Eucharist: ‘And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me”’. In addition to the Last Supper, the Gospel episodes of the miracles of the loaves and fishes are germane, and can be interpreted in light of the Communion of the Apostles.

When Christ enables the miraculous catch of fish in John 21 (echoing the earlier miraculous catch of fish and calling of Peter, James, and John in Luke 5:1–11) it is not simply food that he provides, but a communication of his very self. This is why Peter abandons the nets and the boat to go and receive (and be received by) Jesus directly. An attitude of receptivity towards Christ characterizes the disciples, especially Peter, in John 21 and in the works in this exhibition.

Such attitudes ought also to characterize communicants who partake of the eucharistic elements, as the Rossano miniature makes plain. St Augustine also affirms this in his commentary on John 21:12–14:

The fish roasted is Christ having suffered; He Himself also is the bread that cometh down from heaven. With Him is incorporated the Church, in order to the participation in everlasting blessedness. For this reason is it said, ‘Bring of the fish which ye have now caught,’ that all of us who cherish this hope may know that we ourselves, through [the seven disciples, which here symbolize] our universal community … may partake in this great sacrament, and are associated in the same blessedness. (Augustine, ‘Tractate 123’, John)

In addition to the theme of eucharistic reception, the issue of faith in Jesus is also foregrounded in our works. The Sustris painting seems to follow a visual tradition—as exhibited in the earlier panel from the Maestà—of depicting Peter as walking, or almost walking on water, following Matthew 14:25–33. If Peter now no longer sinks, as he did in this earlier episode, then Peter must no longer doubt; he is ultimately resolute in his faith in Jesus.

Peter’s faith is a central topic of John 21. After the disciples reach the shore and eat breakfast with Jesus, Jesus turns to Peter and asks thrice, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ Thrice Peter responds, ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you,’ reversing his three denials of Jesus a few days prior (John 18:17, 25, 27). Jesus replies, ‘Feed my sheep/lambs’, underscoring that Peter’s faith must now be demonstrated through ministry to his flock, despite the prospect of martyrdom (John 21:18–19). The Sustris and Duccio paintings display Peter’s apparent readiness to do so as he leaves the safety of the boat to walk atop the stormy sea. While in the Gospel account John is the first to recognize the resurrected Jesus, it is Peter who first acts upon his faith by jumping into the water to come to him.

The unifying concept underlying these three works, therefore, is the disciples’ faith in and reception of Christ—the Word that he is and pronounces, and the Living Bread (and Fish) that he is and provides to his Church.

References

Augustine. ‘Tractate 123’. Trans. by John Gibb and James Innes. 1888. St Augustin: Holilies on the Gospel and First Epistle of John, Soliloquies, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series 1, vol. 7, ed. by Philip Schaff (New York: Christian Literature Publishing)