St. Peter and St. John at Beautiful Gate
Gustave Doré, 1866 · Acts 3:6
The passage
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Acts 3:6
About this plate
A temple wall of huge blocks, with the gate at the right. Peter and John stand at the centre; between them a lame man is on his feet, half risen, his crutch still under one arm and his legs plainly not yet trusted. A beggar crouches at the left. On the right a temple official in an elaborate headdress turns to look.
The half-risen posture is the best thing in the plate. Doré does not draw a healed man walking. He draws the second in which the legs are taking weight for the first time and nobody, including the man, knows yet whether it will hold.
The verse is the line everybody quotes and it begins with a refusal: Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
The man had asked for money. He is told there is none. Doré keeps the beggar's bowl in the picture, on the ground, unfilled, at the bottom of the frame.
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