Paralytic Raising His Bed
Description
Object Label: The craftsmanship of these two works is comparable to the best of the Brooklyn Museum’s genuine Late Antique stone carvings. However, many features show that neither is ancient. Like many forgeries, both figures have unrealistic hair and heavily outlined, staring eyes. The female figure’s garment, with its odd folds and neckline, is without parallels, as is her headdress. She holds an orb with a cross and a scepter, objects held in Late Antique Sculpture only by male archangels, and she appears to stand in front of the framing arch, rather than within it. The paralytic man healed by Jesus was seldom illustrated in this period; moreover, this sizable figure would have been inappropriate in either a tomb or a church. It has been carefully—and unrealistically—damaged only on both hands and one lower edge. Caption: Paralytic Raising His Bed, 20th century C.E. (probably). Limestone, pigment, 24 7/16 x 13 9/16 x 12 in. (62 x 34.5 x 30.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 62.44. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06
Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
The image depicts a sculpture of a kneeling figure supporting a structure.
The artifact shows a male figure in a kneeling position with arms raised, seemingly to support or carry a load. The figure's detailed musculature and dynamic pose suggest a high level of craftsmanship, with notable attention to anatomical features and the texture of the hair. The piece appears to be made from a stone material, potentially limestone, and exhibits elements characteristic of Greco-Roman influence.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 62.44 tier-2
- BKM-Object 80243 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.