The Miraculous Draught of Fishes

Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510-1592) was a Venetian painter known for the dynamic, colorful religious and genre paintings that make him one of the most important painters of the Venetian Renaissance. The Miraculous Draught of Fishes from 1545 depicts the biblical miracle in which Jesus causes the disciples to catch a miraculous draught of fish, in the dynamic, colorful manner that distinguishes Bassano's best work from the more serene painting of his Venetian contemporaries. The 1545 date places this in Bassano's early mature period, when he was developing the dynamic, colorful manner that would make him one of the most important painters of the Venetian Renaissance, and the biblical subject allows him to exercise his talent for depicting the dramatic moment of the miracle.

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes is important in the history of Venetian painting because it demonstrates the dynamic, colorful manner that Bassano brought to biblical subjects as one of the most important painters of the Venetian Renaissance. Bassano's dynamic biblical paintings—combining dramatic composition with the colorful observation of nature that was his most distinctive contribution—represent one of the most important developments in Venetian painting, and the 1545 painting shows this development in its early phase.

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes is Bassano's dynamic Venetian painting: the biblical miracle rendered in the colorful manner of one of the most important painters of the Venetian Renaissance. The 1545 painting shows Bassano developing the dynamic, colorful manner that would make him one of the most distinctive voices in Venetian painting.