Calling of John and James

John and James, the sons of Zebedee, called from their fishing nets by Jesus — leaving their boat and their father without hesitation — represent the immediacy of the disciples' response to the call. Watanabe's katazome rendering depicts this moment with the directness of the Gospel narrative itself: fishermen, boat, water, and the figure calling them, all rendered in the bold simplified forms of the mingei tradition. The disciples' willingness to drop everything and follow is made visible through the dynamic arrangement of the figures.