Record details

• generalData.authorNameInListings

  Pablo Esquert (1500-1576)

• generalData.title

  Ecce homo

• technicalData.measurements

  220 x 128 cm / con marco: 227 x 132,5 x 13,8 cm

• technicalData.description

  Temple on board
  Original frame

• technicalData.complementaryDescription

  The painter, of Flemish origins, producer of this work, came from Flanders to Spain brought by Martín de Gurrea, Duke of Villahermosa. His birth name was Shephers, but in Spain he was known as Pablo Esquert or Micer Pablo. Scheppers and his colleague Rolán de Mois, with whom he shared a workshop, were called to come to Spain by Martín de Gurrea y Aragón, Duke of Villahermosa. He travelled through Europe between 1554 and 1559, and once in Zaragoza, both artists were protected by the Duke.
  The work we present here represents an Ecce Homo. Ichnographically, it is a pitiful image of a king, a mockery of his royal status, complete with crown and scepter. These images of Ecce Homo, with all the canonical attributes, are inspired by the episode in which Jesus Christ is sentenced to death before the crowd in the Praetorium. According to the evangelist John (Jn 19, 5:) "And Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them: 'Behold the man'" (summarized with the Latinism Ecce Homo). In this case, however, the Gospel According to St. Matthew is taken: "They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him."
  In this case, Scheppers choses to represent the scene only presenting the figure of Jesus. He appears alone, without Pontius Pilate nor any other possible characters such as an executioner. The intention of the artist behind this resource is to focus the gaze of the beholder strictly into the protagonist of the scene: Jesus Christ. He invades the whole area of the canvas. Surrounded by the grey and deep background, a dark and melancholic tone is added to the scene. Here, one can see the influence by Luis de Morales we have been mentioning. The model and the coloring of tones evoke the ones in Morales’s in the examples of the same theme kept at the National Museum of El Prado, Madrid.