Eduourd Léon Edy-Legrand, Jesus Healing the Blind Man. circa 1950. Illustration from La Bible, ed. Maurice Robert.
Eduourd Léon Edy-Legrand (1892−1970) was a French artist who specialized in creating illustrations for advertising and publishing. Legrand spent the majority of his later years living in Morocco, where he was inspired by the pell-mell of the light, color, and traditions. In 1950 Legrand was commissioned to illustrate a new translation of the Bible by Robert Tamisier and François Amiot, including this illustration of Jesus Healing the Blind Man. In this haunting image, Legrand chooses to take the viewer up close—cropping out all but the delicate hands of Jesus and the humble face of the blind man. In one of the miracle stories as told in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus comes to Bethsaida in Galilee and touches a blind man’s eyes with his spittle, lifting the man’s physical and spiritual blindness.
