Christ Healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda

(2 customer reviews)

$18.00$914.00

Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1883

Framing available for canvas prints between 10 & 21 inches.

Canvas prints are rolled and packaged in a shipping tube. Paper prints that are smaller than 14” are shipped flat and prints that are larger than 14” are rolled and shipped in a shipping tube.

Framed work is wrapped in packaging foam and shipped in a framed art box.

Description

Christ Healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda

Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)

Up until August 29, 2001, the painting of Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda resided at the Bethesda Indre Mission in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it hung since 1883. This work now graces the walls of Brigham Young University Museum of Art.

Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda stirs up feelings of compassion and empathy, encouragement and hope. Our dependence on the Savior to be healed spiritually and to be made whole is poignantly emphasized in His response to the infirmed man on the steps of the Bethesda pool. Furthermore, the doctrines of Sabbath-day observance and the resurrection act as underlying themes to this biblical account.

What’s Going On?

In addition to depicting one of Christ’s miracles, this altarpiece uses artistic conventions that seek to involve the viewer. For instance, the curved steps surrounding the pool appear to extend beyond the canvas. This includes the viewer in the miraculous proceeding.

Light and darkness also engage spectators by emphasizing a particular event or figure in the scene. Although the infirm man who receives Christ’s healing command is the object of the scriptural account, he lies hidden in shadow beneath the coarse canopy. Instead, the light rests upon two other figures-Christ and the red-turbaned man. It is understandable that Christ, the divine Healer, would be illuminated, but the equal prominence given to the turbaned man raises questions. Why does he stare? What does he symbolize? What is his relationship to the viewer?

This piece is on permanent display, but was also featured in the Sacred Gifts, Beholding Salvation, and The Master’s Hand exhibitions.

More About Bloch

Carl Bloch was an academic Danish painter who is best known for his paintings depicting the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

He received his artistic training at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Later, while living in Rome for several years, Bloch studied paintings by the great Italian masters.

When he returned to Copenhagen, Bloch quickly established a reputation as a religious painter. This led to major commissions for paintings in churches and chapels of Denmark and Sweden.

His extensive body of work includes over 250 paintings and 78 etchings. Still, Bloch considered his religious works to be his most valuable contributions. His productive career ended early when he died of cancer at the age of only fifty-five.

Additional information

Material

Canvas, Paper

Size

10" x 7.9", 14" x 11.1", 21" x 16.7", 30" x 23.9", 36" x 28.6", 48" x 38.1"

Frame

Black, Espresso, Natural, Print Only

2 reviews for Christ Healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda

  1. Laurie M. (verified owner)

  2. Judith J. (verified owner)

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