This narrative seems a rather strange inclusion in a series on the Passion, but emphasizes the continuity of the Church and Christ’s teachings through the Apostles. Some scholars argue that Dürer must have planned a series of engravings dedicated to the Apostles which was never executed beyond this single sheet. In the work, the figures of the Apostles are statuesque compared to the merciless conditions of the cripple, whose ailment has been identified as leprosy.
