Landscape with Christ and Saint John the Baptist

This painting's circular composition and evocative Italian landscape are typical of Wals. Set on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the figures of Christ and Saint Peter relate to the Parable of the Tribute Money. According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Saint Peter will find a coin in a fish's mouth to pay his tax. Wals seemed to reject narrative in most of his paintings, concentrating instead on the landscape and the buildings that populate it.

Credit: Purchased with Art Fund support, 1990