The Healing of the Lame Man

The scene represented in this third tapestry, taken from the book of the Acts of the Apostles (3: 1−11), is a faithful illustration of the episode of the healing of the man who had been lame since birth, a miracle performed by Peter in the temple of Jerusalem. The action takes place in a peristyle of Solomonic columns with fluted shafts decorated with bas-reliefs. 

According to the Gospel account, every day the lame man was laid at the east entrance to the temple, called the Beautiful Gate, through which women entered the temple court. The two apostles, John and Peter, bless the palsied beggar sitting at their feet and Peter holds out his hand to help him up. The other people who witness the miracle are positioned between the columns on either side of the central scene.

Borders: The side borders, based on a design attributed to Perino del Vaga, are an allegory of the passage of time and the course of the seasons. The columns of figures, taken from classical mythology, are not mirror-symmetrical like those in the rest of the tapestries. They feature different personifications of day and night (Apollo and Diana); attributes of time and eternity (an hourglass, a twenty-four-hour clock and a snake biting its tail); and personifications of the four seasons. The lower border is an allegory of Fortune, a two-faced woman who gives or denies riches or favours to six people flanked on the left and right by Prudence with a mirror and Constance armed with a spear and shield. 

Texts: Concha Herrero Carretero