When more than five thousand people followed Christ into a barren region where no sustenance was to be found, the apostles became very worried. Christ, however, had what little food there was left brought to him and blessed it, whereupon it multiplied, affording sufficient food for everyone. This story prefigures the rite of Communion.
Van Dyck made the painting at the age of 18 or 19. The loose and extremely bold execution reflects his ambition to forge a revolutionary new style.
Specifications
- Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
- Christ and Six Apostles, (Fragment of The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes)
- Oil on canvas
- Bequest of Adriana Jacoba Onderdenwijngaard (Den Haag 1926 - Wassenaar 2019)
