Jesus Cures Two Blind Men

12th-13th century
Mosaic
Cathedral of the Assumption, Monreale, Sicily

The mosaic pictures Matthew 20:29-30, "And when they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And behold two blind men sitting by the way side, heard that Jesus passed by, and they cried out, saying: 'O Lord, thou son of David, have mercy on us.'" The "way side" is expressed by the wavy bands at the bottom of the panel, the "multitude" by the crowding of figures into the space behind Jesus, and the blindness by closed eyes. For good measure, the artist makes the blind men also seriously lame and in need of crutches. This makes even more impressive the final note in the chapter, "immediately they saw, and followed him" (34).

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Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.