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165 x 116,5 cm
Oil on canvas
1600 - 1606 ca.


Report

Expertise

Christ Mocked

The subject

The story of the mocking of Christ and his preparation for the cross is told in the Gospel of Mark:

 

“The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:16-20)

 

But the composition also contains another important iconographic element: the lantern that appears above the head of Jesus highlighting his divine nature and presenting Christ as the sole carrier of the light of salvation into a world of darkness.


The painting

Maurizio Marini attributes the piece to Rubens and the Italian period of the famous Flemish artist, between 1600 and 1606, when Rubens received the commission for the Chapel of Sant’ Elena in the Church of Santa Croce in Jerusalem in Rome.

Only a few pieces remain from this period, one of which is Mocking of Christ, preserved today in the Cathedral Museum in Grasse. Maurizio Marini considers the large number of preparatory studies completed regarding the Santa Croce in Jerusalem cycle and the variations presented by this painting compared with the original version, which also includes other characters around the figure of Jesus.