The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Tintoretto’s depiction of Christ’s miracle—when he is said to have fed a crowd of five thousand with just five barley loaves and two fish brought by a boy—is almost cinematic in its scale and effect. Its broad, horizontal composition is typical of Venetian paintings designed to decorate the lateral wall of a chapel, confraternity hall, or the long, central hall (called the portego) of a palace. Tintoretto relied on assistants to produce these vast works. In the early nineteenth century, this painting and Tintoretto’s Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto) were in the Farnham Collection, Ireland, and may have been pendants.