Shop art print and framed art The Flagellation of Christ by Caravaggio

Christ on a Column (or Flagellation of Christ) is a painting by Caravaggio, painted between 1606 and 1607 and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen. It depicts Christ about to be scourged by two executioners who tie him to a high column as a prelude to his Passion. The work, which has only recently been attributed to Caravaggio (late 1950s), has not been dated with any certainty, but art historians agree that it dates from the painter's very first stay in Naples, when he had just fled Rome after committing murder. Typical of Caravaggio's style, Christ on the Column is an original composition that is strikingly different from the one chosen for a second Flagellation, which Caravaggio painted for a Neapolitan church a short time later. Christ is depicted just before his scourging, as his two torturers are busy binding him to a column: it is this moment of tension preceding the violence that forms the heart of the scene. Christ's torturers are depicted in the naturalist style favoured by the Lombard painter: their scarred faces and rough hands give them a popular appearance, which is confirmed by their poor, battered clothes"; they are treated humanely, not caricatured. Similarly, the brutality of their gestures and the frazzled appearance of Christ reflect a concrete reality". The lighting on the left clearly separates the painting into two parts, and the movement of the figures is designed to reflect this composition. The skylight light from above, typical of Caravaggio, [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the baroque style.

 

« The Flagellation of Christ » is kept at Musee des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France.

 

Find the full description of The Flagellation of Christ by Caravaggio on Wikipedia.