This 18th century oil on panel piece focuses on the artist interpretation of the The Feeding of the 5,000 which is also known as the "miracle of the five loaves and two fish". The artists use of colors and period details lends itself to the Continental school in its depiction of the scene described in the Gospel of John which reports that Jesus used five loaves and two fish supplied by a boy to feed a multitude.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been killed, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Luke specifies that the place was near Bethsaida. The crowds followed Jesus on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."

Jesus said that they did not need to go away, and therefore the disciples were to give them something to eat. They said that they only had five loaves and two fish, which Jesus asked to be brought to him. Jesus directed the people to sit down in groups on the grass.

In Mark's Gospel, the crowds sat in groups of 50 and 100, where in Luke's gospel, Jesus's instructions were to seat the crowd in groups of 50, implying that there were 100 such groups.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,Jesus gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.