He stands in white against the wall and looks down.
Bible in art · John
The Man with an Infirmity of Thirty-Eight Years (Le malade de trente-huit ans)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
One sick man is shown up close in a low arch beside the pool. He lies face down on the stone, his head on his arms, worn out; an old man in a white cap crawls past him on all fours towards the water.
At the left Jesus stands against the wall in a long white mantle and looks down at him, a hand raised. Green plants grow from the cracks between the stones.
From the text
- “One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5)
- “I have no one to help me into the pool” (John 5:7)
The artist’s own
- Another sick man hurrying to the water first
- The low vaulted arches around the pool
Details
Jesus
The sick man
He lies face down with his head on his arms.
The old man
A bearded man in a white cap crawls towards the pool.
The pool
Dark water at the foot of the stone edge.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.67) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".