1626, Anthony van Dyck, Ecce Homo -- Courtauld Gallery (London) (special exhibition)
From the museum label:
Wrists bound, Christ is presented to the crowd before his crucifixion. A soldier mocks his claim of authority by adorning him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe. The painting's title is drawn from the dramatic words uttered by the Roman official Pontius Pilate: 'ecce homo' ('behold the man' in Latin). Anthony van Dyck represented this subject on several occasions. The loan of this poignant depiction, today in the collection of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, allows it to be shown beside The Courtauld's related painting (at left).
In his various representations, Van Dyck cast different figures in the role of Christ's tormentors. Here, unlike in the Courtauld work, he depicts him as a Black soldier, whose apparent act of compassion is undermined by his grinning expression. Van Dyck's choice evoked a racist trope that saw Black subjects as unenlightened non-believers. The painting was made for a Genoese patron who may have welcomed the inclusion of such a figure. Black attendants were fashionable among the aristocracy of the port city as a symbol of wealth and status during this period of the slave trade.
1626, Anthony van Dyck, Ecce Homo -- Courtauld Gallery (London) (special exhibition)
From the museum label:
Wrists bound, Christ is presented to the crowd before his crucifixion. A soldier mocks his claim of authority by adorning him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe. The painting's title is drawn from the dramatic words uttered by the Roman official Pontius Pilate: 'ecce homo' ('behold the man' in Latin). Anthony van Dyck represented this subject on several occasions. The loan of this poignant depiction, today in the collection of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, allows it to be shown beside The Courtauld's related painting (at left).
In his various representations, Van Dyck cast different figures in the role of Christ's tormentors. Here, unlike in the Courtauld work, he depicts him as a Black soldier, whose apparent act of compassion is undermined by his grinning expression. Van Dyck's choice evoked a racist trope that saw Black subjects as unenlightened non-believers. The painting was made for a Genoese patron who may have welcomed the inclusion of such a figure. Black attendants were fashionable among the aristocracy of the port city as a symbol of wealth and status during this period of the slave trade.