In the first panel of this story, the leper Ralph sits at Becket’s tomb. His legs, feet, and hands have dots painted all over them, the glaziers’ way of showing that someone had leprosy. For many years, these dots were not noticed (they are difficult to see in black and white photos), and this panel was thought to portray the cure of a lame man. Ralph’s head is a modern replacement. If it were the original, it surely would have had dots painted on it as well.

Ralph is portrayed as a man of wealth. He wears a long white tunic with decoration at its base and sits in a decorated chair. One monastic servant has the unenviable job of washing Ralph’s leprous leg with the water relic. A second servant handing Ralph a bowl of the water relic to drink looks as if he is stretching out his arms to stay as far away from him as possible. A third servant looks on from the right.

The inscription translates as “It subsides by means of a vow, bathing, prayer, and drink of the blood.” We know from Benedict’s account that one of Ralph’s vows was to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and that he spent nine days at Becket’s tomb drinking the water relic, washing with it, and praying for healing. At this point, he felt improvement – the leprosy “subsided,” as the inscription states – but he was not healed.