The Woman with the Flow of Blood

6th century
Mosaic
Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

This is one of the 13 mosaics along the upper band of the left wall of the nave that follow the life of Christ. The mosaics show a youthful Jesus without a beard. He holds his right hand in a gesture of speech referencing his words to the woman, "Take heart, your faith has saved you."

The episode is told in Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, and Luke 8:43-48. The woman makes her way through a large crowd and touches a tassel on Jesus' cloak, hoping to be cured of a flow of blood. Jesus asks who just touched him and, in Mark and Luke, she falls down on the ground and trembles before him. The three men standing on the right in this mosaic probably signify the crowd; the one left of Jesus is one of his disciples.

See also a view of the entire left wall with commentary on the iconography of Jesus and the apostles in these mosaics.

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.