 The painting diverges somewhat from the biblical story , in that the tax collector confronts the whole group of Christ and the disciples , and the entire scene takes place outdoors . The story is told in three parts that do not occur sequentially , but the narrative logic is still maintained , through compositional devises . The central scene is that of the tax collector demanding the tribute . The head of Christ is the vanishing point of the painting , drawing the eyes of the spectator there . Both Christ and Peter then point to the left hand part of the painting , where the next scene takes place in the middle background : Peter taking the money out of the mouth of the fish . The final scene – where Peter pays the tax collector – is at the right , set apart by the framework of an architectural structure . 
