Christ Mocked, HIeronimus Bosch

Amongst the National Gallery’s collection is a single panel by Heronimus Bosch titled Christ Mocked (The Crowning with Thorns), c. 1495.

In this work we get an up close intimate view of the Christ, being tormented by his captors. This is a conventional scene from the story of the Passion of Christ. Towards the end of the 15th century, we see an increased interest in depicting the suffering of the Christ, at a time calls for reform of the Church were growing and the cult of the Virgin was ubiquitously the western Church’s primary focus.

The Christ stares directly at the viewer, resigned to his fate, yet his gaze is serene and would have offered comfort to the devoted worshipper. His white cloak represents purity and innocence. The crown of thorns about to be placed on his head recalls a halo, representing his sanctity.

The scene lacks the sense of movement, that would become one of the main features of the Baroque era of religious painting, yet the violence of the scene is represented by the four torturer’s pose, actions and expressions. X-rays have revealed that their features were originally more grotesque and their body language more explicitly violent, but perhaps Bosch’s afterthought was to humanise the guards, straying away from his, at times comical demon-like creatures. Even so, their features are distorted enough, alluding to ugliness which was a common pictorial device to convey spiritual corruption.

The figure in the bottom right corner grabs Christ’s cloak forcefully, whilst the grinning man opposite on the left has a crescent moon on his head dress, marking him as an unbeliever. The figure placing the crown wears an armoured gauntlet and a blunt tipped arrow in his head dress. This type of arrow was used in hunts with the aim of maiming prey, allowing hunting dogs to move in for the kill. This symbolism is reinforced by the guard on the right who wears a dog’s collar, a Biblical reference to the Christ being ‘surrounded by dogs’.

You might know Bosch for his terrifying visions of hell and his surrealist depictions of hybrid creatures, fantastical contraptions and marvellous frolicking scenes, as seen in his Garden of Earthly Delights, held in Madrid’s Prado gallery. However, this remarkable painting offers a more subtle side to this visionary artist.

Garden of Earthly Delights, 1490 -1510, to see this C16 fantastical masterpiece head to El Prado, Madrid.