Christ heals the lame 

Abraham Bloemaert made this pen and wash drawing, Christ heals the lame, sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. Bloemaert, a Dutch artist, lived through a time of great religious upheaval, and this drawing reflects the increasing interest in personal piety and the role of Christ as a healer and comforter. The image uses visual codes familiar from earlier art, but here they are used to convey a new sense of intimacy. We see Christ healing a man, not in a grand public setting like earlier depictions of biblical scenes, but rather in an informal encounter outside a humble dwelling. This focus on the everyday resonates with the Protestant Reformation's emphasis on individual faith. For us today, this image offers insight into the changing social and religious attitudes of the Netherlands during this period. To understand it more fully, we might consult religious texts, social histories, and records from the Dutch Reformed Church. These sources can help us to appreciate the changing role of art in society, and the ways in which artists like Bloemaert responded to the needs and concerns of their time.