Christ cures a deaf man with his hands. Woodcut.

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23935i
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Previous title, replaced March 2024 : Christ cures a deaf mute man with his hands. Woodcut.

Description

Bible. N.T. Mark 7.31-37: "And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak."

Physical description

1 print : woodcut ; image 13.1 x 19.2 cm

Lettering

Guérison d'un homme sourd et muet. Bears number: 50

Notes

Among the many healing miracles of Christ that are described in the New Testament, there is only one description of the healing of 'a deaf and mute man'. The scene is also rarely portrayed in early modern art, which can perhaps be associated with the relative lack of stigma and social integration of prelingually deaf people as compared to other types of sensory and physical disabilities. Although early modern philosophical and theological discourses considered prelingually deaf people less intelligent, sources documenting their everyday lives and actual legal and religious status do not confirm this bias. In the middle, and background, of Leclerc's print, are the miracle of loaves and fishes and the sermon on the mount. The combination of these episodes underscores the exegetical interpreation of Christ's healing miracles as expressions of his mercy. This created a model for almsgivers, in which the performance of works of mercy was akin to New Testament healing miracles, depriving people with disabilities of agency and accentuating the importance of charitable deeds for benefactors. (Source: Barbara Kaminska and Jess Bailey, Historians of Netherlandish Art conference workshop 2024).
Woodcut on verso numbered 49, of the "Guérison de la fille de la Chananée"

Reference

Wellcome Collection 23935i

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