Attributed to The Brunswick Monogrammist, 'The Raising of Tabitha', possibly about 1540

A sick person wearing a white veil and gown lies in bed; it appears to be a woman. A man kneels beside her. He’s barefoot, and has fringes of grey hair around his balding head and a grey beard. Another man stands at the bed head, holding a pink shirt. On the left, a child holding a pair of shoes turns to look up at a woman in a yellow gown with a basket over one arm. Another man, also barefoot and in a greyish mantle, stands next to them. A view through a window or doorway is visible behind him.

This is probably the raising of Tabitha (Acts 9: 36–41), one of the miracles performed by Saint Peter after Christ’s death. Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, was a disciple of Christ who lived in Joppa (now Jaffa, in Israel). She had done many good works during her life and when she died, her friends sent for Saint Peter. They brought him to the room where Tabitha’s body had been laid, where ‘all the widows stood by him weeping and showing him all the coats and garments which Dorcas had made’. Peter knelt beside the bed and prayed, and said ‘Tabitha arise’ – she opened her eyes and sat up.

The style has features in common with the work of the Brunswick Monogrammist: stocky figures, often seen from the back, with round heads and sloping shoulders, and theatrical gestures.

The painting is not in good condition. The panel itself has had a number of additions which appear to be replacing lost original wood; presumably the edges were badly damaged. Some of the colours have changed: the bedspread and the robe of the man on the left were originally green, but have a copper-containing glaze which has turned brown. The man’s head is not original, although the mantle over his shoulder, at his left wrist and between his left hand and left foot probably are.