Peter

John Ward McClellan

John Ward McClellan uses the concept of "Notan" to explore different arrangements of light and dark elements in this Surreal composition, without having the distraction of other elements like color, texture and finer details.

The biblical subject is the Apostle Peter, whose name in Greek means "rock" and who is often represented by a rock jutting out from the sea, because Peter is the rock upon which the church is built; with a rooster, which represents his three denials of being associated with Jesus; a boat and fishing, which refers to his early career as a fisherman and that he would become a "fisher of men." McClellan incorporates all these references within the composition.

Inscribed backwards in the stone, in the bottom left of the image, is "Mat. 16:18", in reference to the Biblical scripture: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."