Edmund Blair Leighton (1852-1922), The Blind Man at the Pool of Siloam, 1879, oil on canvas. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Jack R. Wheatley, 2014.
A man, blind since birth, makes his way to the pool of Siloam at the behest of the great healer, Jesus of Nazareth. Momentarily, the aged man of faith will not only receive the miraculous gift of sight but also the endowment of insight and testimony that Jesus is the Son of God. Drawn to the man’s plight, Jesus taught that his blindness was not a result of any pre-mortal transgression but an opportunity for the works of God to be made manifest. Using clay formed from his own spittle, Jesus anointed the man’s eyes and instructed him to wash them in the waters of Siloam. Once a sightless outcast, this new believer subsequently stood before the vindictive Pharisees and testified to the divinity of his Savior and Healer, Jesus Christ.