Flemish school of the late sixteenth century.

Flemish school of the late sixteenth century.
"Ecce Homo".
Oil on panel.
Frame of the early twentieth century, with faults.
Measurements: 46,5 x 33 cm; 70 x 59 x 5 cm (frame).

In this devotional panel the theme of Ecce Homo is represented. The face of Christ in the foreground, occupying almost all the visual space, expresses resignation and humanity: the tearful and reddened eyes, the half-open lips, the pale skin splashed with tears and the thorns embedded in the forehead conform essentially the image of the pathos. As usual in the Flemish school of the Renaissance period, every strand of hair, every drop and every fold of cloth speaks for itself. The architectural background remains in the background. The light, soft but precise, bathes the face, clearly revealing a deep sense of desolation.

The theme of Ecce Homo belongs to the cycle of the Passion, and precedes the episode of the Crucifixion. Following this iconography, Jesus is presented at the moment when the soldiers mock him, after crowning him with thorns, dressing him in a purple tunic (here red, symbolic color of the Passion) and placing a reed in his hand, kneeling down and exclaiming "Hail, king of the Jews!". The words "Ecce Homo" are those pronounced by Pilate when presenting Christ before the crowd; their translation is "behold the man", a phrase by which he mocks Jesus and implies that the power of Christ was not such as that of the leaders who were judging him there.