Christ at the Pool of Bethesda
hurch of the Confraternita di San Giovanni Decollato, also known as the Confraternita della Buona Morte; Compagnia della Carità, entered the Pinacoteca in 1879
The Confraterinta di San Giovanni Decollato, also known as the Confraternity of Good Death, in Faenza commissioned this large altarpiece from Ferraù Fenzoni on his return to his native city in 1599.
The subject of the painting, taken from the Gospel according to St. John (Jn, 5:1-18), tells of a miracle at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, a site consisting of five arcades and sheltering a large number of invalids. Jesus, who was in the city to celebrate a Jewish festivity, healed a man of thirty-eight who had been paralysed. In the painting, the scene in its Classical architectural setting is entirely occupied by bystanders looking on in agitated excitement, in a whirlwind of movements, gestures and drapery that Fenzoni handles with meticulous care. In the corner bottom left, a tribute to a still-life consists of a flask, a bowl and a white loaf, while the remains of a Corinthian column can be seen on the right.
- Städelsches Kunstinstitut, no. 4412 https://sammlung.staedelmuseum.de/en/work/die-krankenheilung-am-teich-von-bethesda[↩]
- Christie’s, New York, 28 January 2000, lot no.16: https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-1697408?ldp_breadcrumb=back&intObjectID=1697408&from=salessummary&lid=1[↩]