GIOTTO di Bondone
(b. 1267, Vespignano, d. 1337, Firenze)

Navicella

1305-13
Pen on paper, 274 x 388 mm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Parri Spinelli made this drawing of Giotto's mosaic when it was still in its original position (c. 1400). He emphasized what seemed to him to be the essential features: the great sail filled with wind, the anxious disciples, and Christ, saving Peter from the water. Moreover, he reproduced in detail the architecture of the harbour and the peaceful angler on the left-hand edge of the picture. This peripheral scene was lost during the many removals of the mosaic.