A Ferry Departs as St Peter Finds a Coin in the Mouth of a Fish

Jacques Jordaens, workshop of Jacques Jordaens, c. 1621 - c. 1650

Jacob Jordaens (1593 - 1678). The miracle of the obol in the mouth of the fish, c. 1640/1650. On Jesus' instructions, Peter caught a fish which had in its mouth a silver coin, an obol. With this they were able to pay the tribute required of them. Jordaens portrayed the event beside a crowded ferry. Peter is seated on the quayside, bent over with a fish in one hand and the coin in the other. Originally the painting was smaller: strips were subsequently added on the right and at the top. The surface is extremely dirty, which hides the seams linking the different sections of canvas. Probably from the Nieuwe Zijds Huiszittenhuis (Institute for Relief for the Poor), Amsterdam Loan from the City of Amsterdam, 1885.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-C-439
  • Dimensionssupport: height 117.5 cm x width 196.5 cm, outer size: depth 8.5 cm (support incl. frame)
  • Physical characteristicsoil on canvas

Identification

  • Title(s)

    A Ferry Departs as St Peter Finds a Coin in the Mouth of a Fish

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-C-439

  • Description

    Het wonder van de stater in de bek van de vis. Zittend op een steiger, rechts op de voorgrond, haalt Petrus een zilveren munt (de stater of cijnspenning) uit de bek van een vis (zie Mattheus 17:24-27). Op de steiger zien de andere discipelen en toeschouwers toe. Achter deze groep vaart een met personen en beest volgeladen veerpont het water op. Een man hijst het zeil in de mast. Waarschijnlijk afkomstig uit het Nieuwezijds Huiszittenhuis.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    signature, bottom right: ‘J·JOR·fe’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    • painter: Jacques Jordaens
    • painter: workshop of Jacques Jordaens

  • Dating

    c. 1621 - c. 1650

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    • support: height 117.5 cm x width 196.5 cm
    • outer size: depth 8.5 cm (support incl. frame)

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    On loan from the City of Amsterdam

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; ? collection Maria de Reus, living outside Amsterdam, 30 April 1695, to be sold privately or at auction by Jan Wijncoop (‘Jordaens, Een stuck zijnde een overvaert’);{List of pictures, with a deposition made by the husband of Maria de Reus, Adriaen Le Febre, archival document N-284, GPI, from the GAA, NAA 4384 (film 4378), fols. 616v-617v; first related to the Amsterdam picture in the unpublished _Research Report for the External Advisory Board_, meeting at the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, 15 February 2008, p. 7, with corrections offered at the meeting itself, unpublished transcript; both documents kindly made available to the compiler.}…; ? one of a group of pictures (including SK-C-446, 447, 453) in the collection of the Oude-Zijdshuis, Amsterdam, transferred to the Nieuwe-Zijdshuis, Amsterdam; from there transferred to the Werkhuis, 1 June 1873;{Label numbered ‘4’ on reverse of the frame.} on loan from the City of Amsterdam to the museum since 1885; on loan to the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, since 2002

Documentation

  • J. Held, 'Nachträglich veränderte Kompositionen bei Jacob Jordaens', Revue Belge d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art (1933), p. 8

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