Capital Forty-Seven

Although this capital is commonly identified as the Calling of the Apostles, it is uninscribed, and may be a reference to other episodes involving water: the Calming of the Sea, or the Walking on Water. All three episodes are central to the relationship between Christ, the world, and the Apostles, and we may have a conflation of them in the capital.

Biblical source: Calling the Apostles:Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11 (John's Calling does not involve water).
Calming the Sea: Matt 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25.
Walking on Water: Matt 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21.

East View: Apostles in the boat.	South View: Christ walks upon the water.
West View: Christ in the boat with the apostles.	North View: Christ calls the apostles.

DETAILS
Detail: North view: corner figure (apostle?)	Detail: impost: twisted water-dragons.

Matthew 4:18-22.

¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
¹⁹ And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
²¹ And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Mark 1:16-20.

¹⁶ And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.
¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed them.
¹⁹ And going an a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.
²⁰ And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

Luke 5:1-11.

¹ While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.
² And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
⁴ And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."
⁵ And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."
⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking,
⁷ they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
⁹ For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken;
¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men."
¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Matt 8:23-27.

²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.
²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.
²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, "SAve, Lord; we are perishing."
²⁶ And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"

Mark 4:35-41.

³⁵ On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."
³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
³⁷ And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?"
³⁹ And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
⁴⁰ He said to them, "Why are you afraid? have you no faith?"
⁴¹ And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey him?"

Luke 8:22-25.

²² One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." So they set out,
²² and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a storm of wind came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in danger.
²⁴ And they went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; and they ceased, and there was a calm.
²⁵ He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that he commands even wind and water, and they obey him?"

Matt 14:22-33.

²² Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
²⁴ but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them.
²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.
²⁷ But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."
²⁸ And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water."
²⁹ He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;
³⁰ but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."
³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?"
³² And when they got into the boat the wind ceased.
³³ And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Mark 6:45-52.

⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
⁴⁷ And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
⁴⁸ And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,
⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out;
⁵⁰ for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."
⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
⁵² for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

John 6:16-21.

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
¹⁸ The sea rose because a strong wind was blowing.
¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat. They were frightened,
²⁰ but he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
²¹ Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version.
Inscriptions based on Robert Favereau, Jean Michaud, and Bernadette Leplant, Corpus des Inscriptions de la France Medievale. Vol. 8, Ariege, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrenees, Tarn-et-Garonne. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1982.