All Were Satisfied by James Seward
Ohio artist James E. Seward spent nearly 9 months painting All Were Satisfied which tells the story of Christ feeding the multitude with the loaves and fishes. Although he hasn't included all of the 5000 persons reported to have been there, this amazing painting certainly gives that impression. Of note are the following:
1. Men were separated from the women and children. Men were seated to the right side and women and children were seated to the left. 2. Reportedly, there were 12 baskets of scraps and leftovers when the meal was finished. There are 5 filled baskets near Jesus and the boy who shared his meal, and there are seven disciples in the painting collecting scraps from the multitude.
Mark 6:32-44 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand: So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. 'This is a remote place,' they said, 'and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.'
But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.'
They said to him, 'That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat'
'How many loaves do you have' he asked. 'Go and see.'
When they found out, they said, 'Five - and two fish.'
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.