1-618-981 - The London Archives (City of London)/Heritage Images

Christ healing a man at the pool of Bethesda, who has not been able to walk for 38 years. On the left a group of ill people wait for their turn in the miraculous waters. The pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem was known for its supposed healing properties. An angel was supposedly meant to disturb the waters and whoever entered the pool after this would be cured from their affliction; and in the scene an angel hovers over the pool. The engraving is after a painting Hogarth painted at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and it is believed that he modelled the subjects of the painting on actual patients. The event is taken from St John's Gospel.