Anthony van Dyck (1599 – 1641)

Ecce Homo

Genoa, about 1625-6

Oil on canvas

101.5 x 78.7 cm

‘Behold the man!’ (Ecce Homo) said Pontius Pilate, on presenting Jesus to a hostile crowd before his Crucifixion. Here, his pale body and resigned expression encourage the viewer to see Christ sympathetically, in comparison to the representation of the Black soldier. Van Dyck painted it for the Balbi family, members of the Jesuit religious order who sought to convert in their eyes ‘un-Christian’ people.

This is an emotionally charged painting that may be understood as an expression of racial demonisation, and of the links between race and religion, during the artist’s time. Today, this makes it a problematic work. How does an understanding of the context around who created this image, and why, affect the way we perceive it as viewers now?

Purchased 1954 (No.54.4)

RESEARCH

This painting is the subject of a re-interpretation project. To find out more, please click here.