Jesus Heals the Leper

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

This episode is recounted in Matthew 8, Mark 1, and Luke 5. A leper approaches Jesus, does him "homage" and says, "if you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus then does so. In the mosaic the "homage" is represented as a bend of the head and neck. Jesus he uses the same blessing gesture seen in other Monreale panels and carries a scroll to signify of his authority.

In Matthew the episode follows directly after the Sermon on the Mount, so the artist puts a mountain in the background.

The inscription above reads IESUS SANAVIT LEPROSUM DICENTEM DOMINE SI VIS POTES ME MUNDARE, "Jesus healed the leper who said ‘Lord, if you wish you can cleanse me.’"

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Read more about Jesus' Cures of Lepers.
Read more about the events of Jesus' earthly ministry.

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