Discipelen wekken slapende Christus tijdens storm op Meer van Galilea 1534 - 1535

Georg Pencz created this tiny etching of the Disciples awakening a sleeping Christ during a storm on the Sea of Galilee sometime in the first half of the 16th century. The story comes from the Gospels and pictures the moment when Christ's followers, fearing for their lives during a storm, rouse him from sleep to save them. In this Germanic interpretation, the cultural and historical context is crucial. Pencz's Germany was engulfed in the religious and social upheaval of the Reformation. Artists, institutions, and patrons were divided between Catholic and Protestant sympathies, and the politics of imagery were hotly contested. As we see here, the narrative is still being circulated, but in a humble and unassuming format. For modern art historians, understanding this work means researching both the artist's biography and the broader religious and social context of 16th-century Germany. Art history emphasizes that meaning is contingent on historical context.