Wood, 338x225 cm + frame 10 cm., Inv. n. 136

This work was produced in 1600, as demonstrated by documents cited by Valgimigli affirming that on 16 July of that year, a monk was sent to Bologna to buy the colours needed for the painting. Fenzoni gave much thought to the conception of the painting, which became his debut in this homeland and hence, as the many sketches demonstrate, he tried various solutions before arriving at the final composition.
The scene is set in a classical style of architecture and depicts a dense group of figures making a variety of gestures and looking in different directions encircling the central figure of Christ while he steps down into the pool to heal the paralysed man. Fenzoni focuses on describing the draping of fabrics and also includes, in the lower left, a still life consisting of a flask, a bowl, and a bag of bread. The personages in the foreground are described in detail, each one being characterised in their gestures, facial expressions, and clothes. This painter stands out for his search for obvious almost excess expressiveness in his figures and in their behaviours, a hyper-realism of some faces and in the two groups of men, standing at Christ's side, who are carrying the infirm on their shoulders.