Follower of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Possibly with Messrs. Doig and Co., London;

With the Alway Gallery, London

Where acquired by Brigitta Bolland, New York;

Thence by descent to her niece, Priscilla Bowden Robinson, New York, by 1970;

Thereafter acquired by Stanley Moss, June 1977.

D. Angulo Iñiguez, Murillo: Su vida, su arte, su obra, Madrid 1981, vol. II, pp. 85-86; vol. III, reproduced. pl. 272 (reproduced with incorrect caption; as a 19th century copy of the National Gallery picture).

This moving depiction of Christ healing the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda derives from one of the most celebrated compositions by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, today in London's National Gallery (inv. no. NG5931). Cropped to focus on the left portion of the original composition, the present work centers attention on the intimate exchange between Christ and the afflicted man. Christ’s gracefully extended arm and the paralytic’s mirrored gesture create a powerful visual connection, emphasizing the miraculous moment of healing described in the Gospel of John (5:8): “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.”

Murillo painted the prime version between 1667 and 1670 for the church of the Hospital de la Caridad in Seville, as part of an important series illustrating six of the seven acts of charity described in the Gospel of Matthew. The charitable brotherhood, devoted to the care of the poor and sick, counted Murillo among its members. While the original composition extends further to the right with additional figures, architecture, and an angel descending above the pool of Bethesda, the present reduced variant heightens the emotional immediacy of the miracle itself, concentrating on the compassionate interaction between Christ and the suffering man observed by three apostles.