Comments : Hands down, Peter is my favorite disciple. The gospellers give him such down-home, spontaneous character. Take for example Mark's story of the transfiguration. In the middle of what must have been an experience of unspeakable beauty, Peter is talking about building houses. As though this were a dream come true for Jesus to be reunited with the Old Testament prophets Moses and Elijiah, Peter is thinking about how to extend this mountain-top experience. Or make it more permanent.

A curator at the Brooklyn Museum points out that in his painting of the Transfiguration, artist James Tissot shows the three apostles in different poses. One is shielding his eyes, another is covering his ears as though the sound og the voice of God is deafening. And the third, well, that's our Peter. Later we'll see that it is Peter whom Jesus selects to build his church.

ABOUT ART TO ACCOMPANY THE GOSPEL OF MARK Artist James Tissot painted an epic cycle of 350 watercolor paintings illustrating the life of Christ. For this series of art commentaries to accompany the Gospel of Mark, I will be drawing extensively from Tissot's work that is in the public domain. And occasionally I will add in art that has been created in the year 2000 and forward.

-Mel Ahlborn

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