Baroque Blog Assignment by Jasper Carpenter

 Baroque Blog Assignment by Jasper Carpenter


The work I chose for this assignment is the "The Flagellation of Christ," which is an oil-on-canvas painting created by the Italian Baroque painter known mononymously as Caravaggio in 1607.  The Oxford Dictionary of English explains the term "flagellation" is used to describe a "flogging or beating, either in a religious discipline or for sexual gratification." Here, it depicts the brutal flogging of Jesus Christ before he was crucified. To give you a better understanding, the scene shows Jesus surrounded by what looks to be three people: two men standing upright on either side of him, and a third bending down to pick up something from the ground. These men are likely soldiers under Pontious Pilate as their faces don't seem upset about having to flog Jesus. Caravaggio.org describes these men as "torturers," which is a good description for them.  Jesus, while portrayed with a muscular, taut body, is being beaten and tortured, with a crown of thorns thrust upon his head, all of which would have been immensely painful. He looks sad and in pain, while knowing full well what is to come. The man on the right of the painting is kicking Jesus in the back of his leg, while the man on the left is seen angrily and intentionally holding onto Jesus's hair with one fist. The man bending down appears to be picking up a bundle of sticks to be used to beat or whip Jesus.  The use of light and dark is interesting: Jesus is shown in the light and the soldiers in the dark, which is in contrast to each other and draws you into the scene. This is an example of the tenebrism technique being used. Knowing what has been going on up to the moment depicted in the painting, and knowing what still awaits Jesus, brings feelings of unease and empathy for Jesus. It makes me want to step into the picture to help stop the torture. Baroque art’s beginnings can be traced back to The Council of Trent, which took place in Trent (Trento), Northern Italy, between 1545 and 1563. The council was called by Pope Paul III in response to the Protestant Reformation, in which Catholic clerics met over three sessions to reaffirm the absolute authority of the Catholic Church, Catholic scripture and doctrine, as well as to condemn Protestantism, resulting in the Catholic Counter-Reformation. By redefining and codifying scripture and doctrine, it led to the use of more emotional, provoking and engaging forms of religious art. The Flagellation of Christ is a good example of that because I felt the strong emotions being portrayed. 


The Flagellation of Christ (Caravaggio ...

Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, "Violence and drama, Caravaggio’s The Flagellation of Christ," in Smarthistory, May 4, 2023, accessed February 28, 2025, https://smarthistory.org/violence-and-drama-caravaggios-the-flagellation-of-christ/.




Comments

  1. Tiambria PhillipsMarch 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM

    This painting has a lot in it that shows the Baroque Era. All people represented in the painting are showing movement from a singular moment. The muscles on all men seem to be tensed in preparing to deliver pain or to receive pain. I agree that tenebrism is a part of this painting especially making Christ the focal point of the painting and the hardships that he is experiencing at the hands of other men. Their faces are covered to give the illusion that I feel can make someone imagine anyone doing the action rather than specific men. There is also the diagonal line of Christs body where he is slumping over and another man is kneeling over creating a diagonal line that stretches from the bottom left side to the top right side. I can't say that I particularly enjoy the painting, but that is due to the emotions that it inflicts in me. To me the painting represents pain, and dismay. However, it was clearly painted by an expert.

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