South Netherlandish School, third quarter of the 16th Century

Ecce Homo,
oil on panel, 72.5 x 105 cm, framed

The present painting illustrates a scene from the Gospel of Saint John (John 19:4–5) in which the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate presents Jesus to the people of Jerusalem with the words ‘Behold the man!’ (‘Ecce homo’). In this episode, Pilate seeks to refute the accusation that Christ was the ‘King of Jews’. He is therefore made to appear as a figure of ridicule wrapped in a purple cloak and with the crown of thorns on his head. However, the people demand Christ’s execution, which eventually leads to his crucifixion.

The composition is based on Lucas van Leyden’s Ecce Homo engraving from 1510 (see fig. 1). Although the painting closely follows the print, several differences are discernible. In addition to a number of minor deviations in terms of motifs – the standing figure at the lower margin on the right side of the dog only carries a stick in Van Leyden’s engraving; on the other hand, only the painting shows a helmeted soldier climbing the stairs and a man dressed in black moving towards the group of Christ and Pilate on the stage – the painting mainly differs from the engraving in the lower right corner: behind the two children, with one pointing at the scene taking place at the centre, the back view of a solitary figure leaning against a balustrade can be seen in Lucas van Leyden’s composition. In the painted version, the stage extends further to the right, with a gesticulating group of figures added in front of it, cut off by the right margin.

In its loose manner of painting, powerful colours, and figure types, the painting can be assigned to art production in Antwerp during the latter half of the sixteenth century. Especially in the colours and figures, the painting is particularly close to the work of Gillis Mostaert, whose Ecce Homo compositions seem to have influenced the artist of the present composition, who therefore probably belonged to Mostaert’s circle.

Technical analysis:
The mix between Italian and Netherlandish models is quite evident looking at the technical approach, starting from the strict observance of perspective rules, with a single viewpoint placed in the upper central right area of the image. Despite the precise perspective, only a few straight lines of construction were detected by IR reflectography: so it can be assumed that they were erased or that a light medium, transparent to IR radiation was used. Some thin incisions were also found.

On the other hand, IR imaging shows drawing of outlines made with a thin black chalk, very free in the far landscape and a little more accurate to describe the main features of buildings and characters. With no evidence of a transfer of a 1:1 drawing or cartoon, we can deduce that the painter drew with great ability ‘alla prima’ the figures, as some traces around them suggest, and defined them directly with colour.

Some small changes can be noticed by reflectography, like the soldier who climbs the stairs and a few other figures, that were painted over the completed buildings. A few variations, particularly in the position of some windows, were detected in the buildings: the intention was probably to regularize their symmetry.

About the palette, quite rich, vis-RS spectroscopy analyses indicate the use of azurite in almost all the blue coloured clothes, while smalt blue was preferred in the sky, in the landscape and in the buildings in the background. Many of the pale blue-greyish colours contain smalt blue, partially discoloured, and sometimes also azurite, as for the roofs. The use of free incisions made with the back of the brush can be noticed in the right lower part of the sky, where azurite is present. The purple garments, like Christ’s cloak, contain a mixture of smalt blue and a carmine-based red lake (from cochineal). The same lake is used for pink hues, while vermillion is employed for the more intense reds. The bright yellows are obtained with a lead-tin yellow.

We are grateful to Gianluca Poldi for the technical examination.