Faced with a suffering patient, one can concentrate solely on trying to cure his illness, or one can do just as Jesus did in the New Testament: embrace his wounds and accept him as a whole. Before washing the feet of his disciples and commanding them to wash each other’s feet as a sign of mutual love, Jesus himself had been the object of this gesture. In chapter 7 of St. Luke’s gospel, a sinful woman washes the feet of Jesus with her tears. This anonymous sinner has often been identified with St. Mary Magdalene: this is why this episode is found in paintings dedicated to the saint. The Church has continued Jesus’ gaze on the person in various ways: through the establishment of hospitals, the sick are welcomed and cared for; in the Pauline letters, the washing of guests’ feet becomes a sign that the person is welcomed as if he were Jesus himself; in the Catholic Liturgy, this gesture has entered the rite of Holy Thursday celebrations; in the Benedictine and the mendicant orders, it has been carried on to receive guests throughout the history of the Church; in art, for example in a series of paintings dedicated to St. Francis, the saint is shown washing the feet of sick lepers, and in a fresco in Siena’s Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, a patient is welcomed with the ritual of the washing of the feet. This article will analyze in particular this fresco by Domenico di Bartolo in the light of its biblical references and other paintings with a similar theme, namely the washing of the feet. This gesture is not a simple hygienic practice but rather a representation of God’s mercy, the full meaning of which can be understood only if we have in mind a whole background of biblical culture.
