In this 1444 painting, Conrad Witz replaces the original setting of the story, the Sea of Galilee, with the countryside around Lake Geneva in Switzerland that he could observe directly. The mountains in the background are particularly realistic and are considered the one of the first true to nature renditions of a landscape in Western Art.

You can see the Western Alps just as they look today. Behind the fishermen, across the lake, is the town of Cologny, today the abode of billionaires. On the left, are the Voirons Hills. The green peak to the right is the deliciously named Le Mole Hill. On most days, the Mont-Blanc is invisible from Geneva. Not to disappoint tourists wanting to see Europe’s tallest peak, the locals would point to Le Mole as the Mont-Blanc. On the far right, The Mount Saleve makes an apparition. Jesus has no shadow.

Charnaux Frères (before 1915)