
An Angel Stirs the Pool of Bethesda
ca. 1440
The Netherlands, Utrecht
MS M.917/945, pp. 114–115
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
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Solomon, aware of an ancient prophecy that the Kingdom of the Jews would come to its end through the wood from the Tree of Mercy, has it buried. Over the burial spot, a pool of miraculous water wells up (there is a floating log in the miniature). When an angel stirred the waters of the Pool of Bethesda, it acquired healing powers. The border vignette of Christ washing the feet of the apostle Peter is a New Testament gloss on the spiritual cleansing powers of water.