Venetian school of the second half of the 15th century.

Venetian school of the second half of the 15th century.
"Flagellation of Christ".
Oil on panel.
Cradled.
Provenance: former collection of Henri Verne (1918-2021).
Measurements: 34.5 x 23 cm; 48.5 x 37 x 3 cm (frame).

This Venetian panel from the second half of the 15th century is a refined example of the visual language developed within the Venetian school of the Quattrocento, where the interest in corporeality, architectural space and textile richness are amalgamated with a certain dramatic restraint and a narrative sensibility still rooted in late Gothicism. Christ appears in the central axis of the composition, naked except for the cloth of purity, with his body bathed in fine lines of blood running down his legs, a subtle expression of physical torment. The ropes that bind his wrists, as well as those wielded by the executioners, seem more lines of composition than instruments of violence: their function seems to respond less to a brutal realism than to a choreographic economy, rhythmizing the space and visually linking the characters in a kind of tragic dance, a choreography of suffering without gestural fuss. Likewise, the executioners around him do not adopt grimaces of fury or excessive dynamism. Their faces, carefully modeled, appear self-absorbed, almost absent, as if they were executing their action from a ritualized plane, alien to compassion but also to sadism. This emotional ambiguity gives the group a more symbolic than narrative character, in line with a Venetian tradition that often privileges the aesthetic and ornamental value of the sacred story. The clothing of the characters has been treated with evident delight by the artist: richly colored fabrics, meticulously described, some with tinges of fantasy, typical of the Venetian taste for the representation of luxurious textures. This emphasis on clothing contrasts with the nudity of Christ, accentuating his vulnerability and spiritual uniqueness.

From an open window in the left background, two figures observe the scene. Their gesture of pointing introduces an almost theatrical reading, as if they were internal commentators, witnesses who duplicate the viewer's gaze. From the upper landing of a staircase, other figures appear. One of them could be identified as Pilate, a hieratic observer of a trial already consummated, withdrawn into a sphere of power that seems oblivious to the immediate drama. The chromatism, dominated by saturated reds, ochers and greens, with golden reflections and broken whites, is fully Venetian in its warmth and enveloping quality.

The style of this work shows traits similar to painters such as Antonio Vivarini, Jacopo Bellini or some members of Carlo Crivelli's bottega, although without the expressive accentuation of the latter. The architectural space, with rounded arches and spiral staircases, reveals a desire to organize the narrative in a rational framework, but still with a certain perspectival rigidity, a legacy of a structural gothicism not yet fully overcome.