Caravaggio - Ecce Homo 1605
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Ecce Homo 1605
128x103cm oil/canvas
Palazzo Rosso, Genoa, Italy, Palazzo Bianco, Genoa, Italy
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes
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The scene is taken from the Gospel of (John 19): Pontius Pilate displays Christ to the crowd with the words, "Ecce homo!" ("Behold the man"). Caravaggio's version of the scene combined Pilate's display with the earlier moment of Christ, already crowned with thorns, mockingly robed like a king by his tormentors. Massimi already possessed a Crowning with Thorns, by Caravaggio, and Ecce Homo may have been intended as a companion piece. Stylistically, the painting displays characteristics of Caravaggio's mature Roman-period style. The forms are visible close-up and modelled by dramatic light, the absence of depth or background, and the psychological realism of, the torturer, who seems to mix sadism with pity. Pilate, in keeping with tradition, is shown as a rather neutral and perhaps almost sympathetic figure.