Christ Healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda
Carl Heinrich Bloch

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, including the viewer in the miraculous proceeding. Light and darkness also engage spectators by emphasizing particular events or figures 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? Perhaps the man’s piercing gaze is meant to thwart others who would enter the pool before him, or perhaps he is pleading for assistance. either unaware or skeptical of Jesus’ power to heal, he continues to wait for the waters to move, suggesting man’s inclination to trust in superstitions rather than in Christ. Whatever his motives, his confrontational expression solicits an emotional response and acknowledges the onlooker as a participant in the story.