Rescue of John Wesley from Fire

North Elevator Vestibule

Rescue of John Wesley from Fire, February 9, 1709
Engraving by D. West (After Henry Purlee Parker)
Philadelphia: William Smith, c. 1845–60.

The pulling of five-year-old “Jackie” through his bedroom window in the Epworth rectory has been recounted as a providential event in the life of John Wesley, the brand plucked from the burning. In this engraving after a painting from 1840 by Henry Purlee Parker in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford John’s father Samuel, vicar of the Epworth parish, is depicted kneeling in prayer as neighbors stage the rescue. An oil study of the painting is among the items in the World Methodist Collection at Bridwell Library.