The Passion: The Flagellation (1597): Art, History and Details

The Passion: The Flagellation (1597) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: The Passion: The Flagellation
• Date: 1597
• Creator attribution: Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617)
• Culture: Netherlands, 16th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1982.122

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.