Cleveland Museum of Art

The Passion: The Flagellation

Hendrick Goltzius

Date

1597

Medium

engraving

Culture

Netherlands, 16th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Goltzius situates his flagellation scene in an urban setting, rather than an open landscape; the compressed space serves to intensify the action. Bound tightly to a tall column, Jesus is whipped by two men, the one on the left wielding a leather whip tipped with barbs; the one on the right with bundled birch branches. Jesus’s body is powerfully muscled, but his face is anguished and gaunt. This engraving was included in a series of 12 prints by Goltzius illustrating the Passion of Christ, extremely popular during the artist’s lifetime and beyond, and inspiring many copies.

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