Peter and John Heal the Lame Man

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

This plate of the Bible of 1866 was cut in wood by an engraver whose name stands, hard to read, at the lower right, opposite Doré’s signature.

On the steps of the temple a man in a ragged tunic struggles to his feet, his crutches falling away. Peter, bearded, holds out his hand to him; young John stands on the other side with his cloak drawn round him. Onlookers kneel and stare in the foreground, and the tall walls of the temple, with small arched windows, rise in the light behind.

From the text

“Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer” (Acts 3:1)

“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you” (Acts 3:6)

“Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up” (Acts 3:7)

The artist’s own

Crutches falling to the ground — the text speaks only of a man carried to the gate

The gate called Beautiful as plain walls with round-arched windows

Peter as an older bearded man and John as a curly-haired youth, as painters often showed them

Details

The lame man

In a ragged tunic, he rises and looks up.

Falling crutches

His crutches tip away as he stands.

Peter

The bearded apostle reaches for the man’s hand.

Onlookers

Two men kneel on the step and stare.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 2, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1874 (acc. 75.267 A) · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.

The verses

Acts 3:1–8One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked directly at him, as did John. “Look at us!” said Peter. So the man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. He sprang to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God.