Baroque Images of the Passion of Christ
- Caravaggio, The Crowning with Thorns (1602-03), Cassa di Risparmi, Prato
- Caravaggio, The Crowning with Thorns (c. 1606), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
- Caravaggio, Christ at the Column (c. 1607), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen
- Caravaggio, Flagellation (c. 1607), Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
- Domenichino, The Way to Calvary (1610), Getty Museum
- Anthony Van Dyck, Crowning with Thorns (1618-20), oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid
- Pieter Pauwel Rubens, The Flagellation of Christ (c. 1650), Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent
- Guercino, The Flagellation of Christ (1657), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
Later Images:
- Honoré Daumier, Ecce homo (1850)
- Romare Bearden, Golgotha (1945), Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Passion of Christ in the Gospel of John
John 19 (in the
Latin Vulgate and
Douay-Rheims translation):
1 Then therefore Pilate took Jesus and scourged him.
2 And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head: and they put on him a purple garment.
3 And they came to him and said: Hail, king of the Jews. And they gave him blows.
4 Pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them: Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him.
5 (Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: Behold the Man.
6 When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants had seen him, they cried out, saying: Crucify him, Crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him.
7 The Jews answered him: We have a law; and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
8 When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the more.
9 And he entered into the hall again; and he said to Jesus: Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Pilate therefore saith to him: Speakest thou not to me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee?
11 Jesus answered: Thou shouldst not have any power against me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that hath delivered me to thee hath the greater sin.
12 And from henceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend. For whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
13 Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha.
14 And it was the parasceve of the pasch, about the sixth hour: and he saith to the Jews: Behold your king.
15 But they cried out: Away with him: Away with him: Crucify him. Pilate saith to them: shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then therefore he delivered him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him forth.
17 And bearing his own cross, he went forth to the place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.
18 Where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst.
19 And Pilate wrote a title also: and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. And it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin.
21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not: The King of the Jews. But that he said: I am the King of the Jews.
22 Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written.
23 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified him, took his garments, (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part) and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
24 They said then one to another: Let us not cut it but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, saying: They have parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they have cast lots. And the soldiers indeed did these things.
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen.
26 When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son.
27 After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.
28 Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst.
29 Now there was a vessel set there, full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth.
30 Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost.
31 Then the Jews (because it was the parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that was a great sabbath day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken: and that they might be taken away.
32 The soldiers therefore came: and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him.
33 But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34 But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side: and immediately there came out blood and water.
35 And he that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true: that you also may believe.
36 For these things were done that the scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of him.
37 And again another scripture saith: They shall look on him whom they pierced.
38 And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews), besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus.
39 And Nicodemus also came (he who at the first came to Jesus by night), bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
40 They took therefore the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
41 Now there was in the place where he was crucified a garden: and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid.
42 There, therefore, because of the parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus: because the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Renaissance Images of the Passion of Christ
- Konrad von Soest, The Crucifixion (1404 or 1414), Parish church, Bad Wildungen
- Master Thomas de Coloswar, Christ Carrying the Cross (1427), Christian Museum, Esztergom
- Andrea del Castagno, Stories of Christ's Passion (1447), fresco in Sant'Apollonia, Florence
- Fra Angelico, Mocking of Christ (c. 1448), Museo San Marco, Florence
- Piero della Francesca, The Flagellation (c. 1455), Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino
- Dieric Bouts the Elder, Passion Altarpiece (side wings, c. 1455), Museo de la Capilla Real, Granada
- Hans Memling, Scenes from the Passion of Christ (1470-71), Galleria Sabauda, Turin
- Hans Memling, Crucifixion (c. 1485), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
- Hans Memling, Christ at the Column (1485-90), Colección Mateu, Barcelona
- Hans Memling, Passion, from the Greverade Altarpiece (1491), Museum für Kunst- und Kulturgedichte, Lübeck
- Michael Pacher, Flagellation (1495-98), Österreichische Galerie, Vienna
- Albrecht Dürer, The Large Passion (woodcut series, 1510, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna)
- Albrecht Dürer, Scenes of the Passion, engravings (1512)
- Flagellation (No. 6), Art Museum, Princeton
- Christ Crowned with Thorns (No. 7), Art Museum, Princeton
- Ecce Homo (No. 8), Art Museum, Princeton
- Bearing of the Cross (No. 10) (1512), Art Museum, Princeton
- Crucifixion (No. 11), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Gaudenzio Ferrari, Crucifixion (1513), fresco in S. Maria delle Grazie, Varallo Sesia
- Hieronymous Bosch, Christ Carrying the Cross (c. 1515), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
- Matthias Grünewald, The Crucifixion (Isenheim Altarpiece, c. 1515), Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar
- Jörg Ratgeb, Flagellation of Christ (1518-19), Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
- Albrecht Altdorfer, The Flagellation of Christ (1518), Augustiner Chorherrenstift, St Florian bei Linz
- Pordenone, Golgotha (1520-21), fresco in Cremona Cathedral
- Hans Holbein the Younger, The Passion (altarpiece, 1524-25), oil on limewood, Kunstmuseum, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle
- Maerten van Heemskerck, Triptych (Passion scenes) (c. 1550), Linköping Cathedral
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Procession to Calvary (1564)
- Titian, Crowning with Thorns (1570/75), Alte Pinakothek, Munich
- El Greco, Christ Carrying the Cross (c. 1580), Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Giuseppe Cesari, The Mocking of Christ (c. 1598), oil on canvas, Chiesa dei Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari, Rome
The Passion of Christ in the Gospel of Luke
Luke 23 (in the
Latin Vulgate and
Douay-Rheims translation):
25 And he released unto them him who for murder and sedition had been cast into prison, whom they had desired. But Jesus he delivered up to their will.
26 And as they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus.
27 And there followed him a great multitude of people and of women, who bewailed and lamented him.
28 But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not borne and the paps that have not given suck.
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us. And to the hills: Cover us.
31 For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?
32 And there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death.
33 And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him there: and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
34 And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing his garments, cast lots.
35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers with them derided him, saying: He saved others: let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God.
36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar,
37 And saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
38 And there was also a superscription written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 And one of those robbers who were hanged blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing; thou art under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly: for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done no evil.
42 And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
44 And it was almost the sixth hour: and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
46 And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And saying this, he gave up the ghost.
47 Now, the centurion, seeing what was done, glorified God, saying: Indeed this was a just man.
48 And all the multitude of them that were come together to that sight and saw the things that were done returned, striking their breasts.
49 And all his acquaintance and the women that had followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding these things.
50 And behold there was a man named Joseph who was a counsellor, a good and a just man,
51 (The same had not consented to their counsel and doings) of Arimathea, a city of Judea: who also himself looked for the kingdom of God.
52 This man went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus.
53 And taking him down, he wrapped him in fine linen and laid him in a sepulchre that was hewed in stone, wherein never yet any man had been laid.
54 And it was the day of the Parasceve: and the sabbath drew on.
55 And the women that were come with him from Galilee, following after, saw the sepulchre and how his body was laid.
The Passion of Christ in the Gospel of Mark
Mark 15 (in the
Latin Vulgate and
Douay-Rheims translation):
15 And so Pilate being willing to satisfy the people, released to them Barabbas: and delivered up Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
16 And the soldiers led him away into the court of the palace: and they called together the whole band.
17 And they clothed him with purple: and, platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon him.
18 And they began to salute him: Hail, king of the Jews.
19 And they struck his head with a reed: and they did spit on him. And bowing their knees, they adored him.
20 And after they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him and put his own garments on him: and they led him out to crucify him.
21 And they forced one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up his cross.
22 And they bring him into the place called Golgotha, which being interpreted is, The place of Calvary.
23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh. But he took it not.
24 And crucifying him, they divided his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
25 And it was the third hour: and they crucified him.
26 And the inscription of his cause was written over: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 And with him they crucify two thieves: the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith: And with the wicked he was reputed.
29 And they that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying: Vah, thou that destroyest the temple of God and in three days buildest it up again:
30 Save thyself, coming down from the cross.
31 In like manner also the chief priests, mocking, said with the scribes one to another: He saved others; himself he cannot save.
32 Let Christ the king of Israel come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him, reviled him.
33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani? Which is, being interpreted: My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?
35 And some of the standers by hearing, said: Behold he calleth Elias.
36 And one running and filling a sponge with vinegar and putting it upon a reed, gave him to drink, saying: Stay, let us see if Elias come to take him down.
37 And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, gave up the ghost.
38 And the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom.
39 And the centurion who stood over against him, seeing that crying out in this manner he had given up the ghost. said: Indeed this man was the son of God.
40 And there were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joseph and Salome,
41 Who also when he was in Galilee followed him and ministered to him, and many other women that came up with him to Jerusalem.
42 And when evening was now come (because it was the Parasceve, that is, the day before the sabbath),
43 Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus.
44 But Pilate wondered that he should be already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him if he were already dead.
45 And when he had understood it by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
46 And Joseph, buying fine linen and taking him down, wrapped him up in the fine linen and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewed out of a rock. And he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre.
47 And Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of Joseph, beheld where he was laid.
Medieval Images of the Passion of Christ
- Anonymous (German Gothic), Choir screen with the Crucifixion (c. 1245), Naumburg Cathedral
- Master of San Francesco Bardi, Crucifix with scenes from Calvary (mid-13th century), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
- Giotto di Bondone, Flagellation (Arena Chapel, Padua, 1304-06)
- Duccio di Buoninsegna, Passion Scenes on the verso of the Maestà Altarpiece (1308-11)
- Simone Martini, Crucifixion (1333), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
- Simone Martini, The Carrying of the Cross (1333), Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Andrea da Firenze, Christ Bearing the Cross to Calvary (1365-68), fresco in the Cappella Spagnuolo, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
- Andrea da Firenze, Descent of Christ to Limbo (1365-68), fresco in the Cappella Spagnuolo, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
The Passion of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 27 (in the
Latin Vulgate and
Douay-Rheims translation):
26 Then he released to them Barabbas: and having scourged Jesus, delivered him unto them to be crucified.
27 Then the soldiers of the governor, taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together unto him the whole band.
28 And stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak about him.
29 And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand. And bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews.
30 And spitting upon him, they took the reed and struck his head.
31 And after they had mocked him, they took off the cloak from him and put on him his own garments and led him away to crucify him.
32 And going out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon: him they forced to take up his cross.
33 And they came to the place that is called Golgotha, which is the place of Calvary.
34 And they gave him wine to drink mingled with gall. And when he had tasted, he would not drink.
35 And after they had crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: They divided my garments among them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.
36 And they sat and watched him.
37 And they put over his head his cause written: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38 Then were crucified with him two thieves: one on the right hand and one on the left.
39 And they that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads,
40 And saying: Vah, thou that destroyest the temple of God and in three days dost rebuild it: save thy own self. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
41 In like manner also the chief priests, with the scribes and ancients, mocking said:
42 He saved others: himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross: and we will believe him.
43 He trusted in God: let him now deliver him if he will have him. For he said: I am the Son of God.
44 And the selfsame thing the thieves also that were crucified with him reproached him with.
45 Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour.
46 And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? That is, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
47 And some that stood there and heard said: This man calleth Elias.
48 And immediately one of them running took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink.
49 And the others said: Let be. Let us see whether Elias will come to deliver him.
50 And Jesus again crying with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom: and the earth quaked and the rocks were rent.
52 And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose,
53 And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 Now the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake and the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God.
55 And there were there many women afar off, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
56 Among whom was Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
57 And when it was evening, there came a certain rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus.
58 He went to Pilate and asked the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body should be delivered.
59 And Joseph taking the body wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth:
60 And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument and went his way.
