Scripture · Mark 6:22
Mark 4:35-36
Christ and His Disciples on the Sea of Galilee
When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.” After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him.
A pale, almost insubstantial figure occupies the right end of a boat. Tanner gathers Christ and the disciples within a compact scene of water and darkness.
About the artwork
The small board measures only 25.4 × 35.6 cm, yet curator Darrel Sewell regarded it as a complete work rather than a preparatory study. He drew attention to the pale figure of Christ at the right end of the boat. Its slightness is part of the painting’s expressive effect, not a reason to dismiss it as incomplete.
The work appeared under several titles in early exhibitions, including one referring to Christ walking on water. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Sewell interpret it as the crossing associated with the calming of the storm. The present pairing follows that reading while preserving the history of differing titles.
Featured in: Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Bible Paintings: Humiliated at Home, Honoured in Paris
What does Mark 4:35-36 mean?
At evening in Mark 4, Jesus proposes crossing to the other side of the lake. The disciples leave the crowd and take Him with them in the boat where He has been teaching. These opening verses establish the ordinary act of setting out before the violent storm that follows.
Later in the account, Jesus sleeps, the frightened disciples wake Him, and He stills the wind and water. Reading the whole episode explains the museum’s interpretation of Tanner’s boat, while the paired verses hold attention on the beginning of the crossing, when Christ is already traveling with them.
Mark 4:35–41 places the pale Christ within a shared crossing that will become a moment of fear, questioning, and astonishment.
Sources
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; oil on board, 25.4 × 35.6 cm.
Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Bible Paintings: Humiliated at Home, Honoured in Paris. Artwork reading adapted from this guide.
Mark 4 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for Mark 4:35-36.
Also from Mark:A ForerunnerThe Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew
Continue looking:Christ Preaching at the SeaThe Storm on the Sea of GalileeAnnunciation