The Miracle of the Five Loaves

Jacob de Gheyn II’s oval engraving of Christ’s miracle of the loaves and fishes elegantly references this event in which the masses, who had come to hear Christ’s sermon, were fed by his multiplying the few crusts of bread and pieces of fish the disciples had procured. Once again, the miracle of replication appears at the heart of the Christian tradition, making print an optimal medium for depicting its holy stories and cult objects. That the engraving plate is an oval platter offers an additional reference to the miracle it depicts; it is as if the resulting loaves might be piled on it for distribution.