A Temple in a Courtyard

drawing by Adam ElsheimerThis pen and brown ink drawing with a gray wash was drawn by the German artist Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610). This drawing measures only 20.5 x 16.6 cm. It is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York but is not on permanent display.

Small people, overshadowed by a larger landscape, are common in Elsheimer’s work. Here the people are dwarfed by what is thought to be the Pool of Bethesda. The Pool, associated with healing at the time of Jesus in the Gospel of John, is located in Jerusalem. That would also explain why a number in of the people in the drawing appear to need assistance.