Flemish school, ca. 1600.

Flemish school, ca. 1600.
Pair "The Crowning of Thorns" and "The Resurrection".
Oil on panel.
Measurements: 10.5 x 10.5 cm, 20 x 20 cm (frame), each one.

Pair of small religious scenes belonging to the Flemish devotional tradition of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. The compositions represent two fundamental episodes of the Passion and Glory of Christ: The Coronation of thorns, where Christ appears humiliated and mocked by the soldiers, and The Resurrection, triumphant moment in which Christ emerges victorious from the tomb to the surprise of the guards.

The work is inscribed within the context of the Flemish school around 1600, a period of transition between late Mannerism and the first developments of the Baroque in the Spanish Netherlands. During these years, Flanders was consolidated as one of the great European artistic centers under the dominion of the Hispanic monarchy, developing an intense religious production destined both for churches and for private devotion.

This type of small diptychs or cabinet paintings were especially appreciated by collectors and devotional environments, since they allowed the intimate contemplation of scenes from the life of Christ. Flemish painting of this period is characterized by technical meticulousness, brilliant color and narrative concentration in reduced spaces, a legacy still very much present in the Mannerist tradition of the 16th century.

The compositions show dynamic figures, hallmarks of light and a certain expressive theatricality that anticipate the Baroque language developed shortly after by artists such as Peter Paul Rubens. Likewise, the taste for detail, the vivid reddish tones and the dramatic character of the scenes fully respond to the religious sensibility of the Counter-Reformation, which promoted images capable of emotionally reinforcing the devotion of the faithful.