Currently not on view

Christ before Pontius Pilate

follower of Hieronymus Bosch, ca. 1450–1516, born Holland, Netherlands; died 's Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

y711

Christ is a center of calm and beauty amidst the howling mob that has brought him to trial before Pontius Pilate. The artist shows the governor ready to wash his hands of Jesus, saying “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it” and delivering him to be scourged and crucified (Matthew 27:24–26). The artist seems familiar with Leonardo da Vinci’s studies of “ideal ugliness,” counterparts to his studies of “ideal beauty,” and has used bizarre visages to convey the degradation of fallen humanity. The viewer sees up-close the gruesome figures with distorted features and nose rings thanks to the half-length format and crowding of figures against the picture plane. These are typical features of a type of Flemish devotional picture then in favor. The Gothic architectural elements in the upper corners suggest the staged quality of the scene and create a theater of piety and morality that suspends Pilate’s action in time.

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Handbook Entry

Variously attributed to Hieronymus Bosch (ca. 1450–1516) or a member of his circle, Christ before Pontius Pilate shows the vitality of Bosch’s art just before or during the Reformation period. The artist adapts devotional imagery with half-length figures of the type used by Rogier van der Weyden and others, and embellishes the pattern with larger figures and distorted facial features. In early efforts to create grotesque physiognomies, Leonardo da Vinci made drawings studying "ideal ugliness," a counterpart to drawings of "ideal beauty," and his informal experiments seem to have been known in the North. Here the gruesome figures have ornamented their bizarre countenances with nose rings, lip piercings, and other trappings of fearsomeness. Are the reflective surfaces above Christ’s hands (possibly part of the soldier’s armor) meant to mirror our own faces? Christ is a center of calm and beauty in the midst of the howling mob that has brought him before a disdainful Pilate. The image confronts us with the degradation of fallen humanity and Christ’s knowledge of his fate. On loan to the Museum for many years before it was given, Christ before Pontius Pilate was for a long time the most famous European painting in the collection. Despite the change in its attribution, it still perfectly embodies the aim of a devotional image of the period, intended to provoke a powerful response in viewers even as we admire the artist’s virtuoso display of the strange spectrum of humanity. The Gothic architectural elements in the upper corners suggest the unreal, staged quality of the image, contained behind a proscenium arch. Expanding on the terse Gospel text, the artist confronts us with a theater of morality and leaves to us the choice that Pilate abdicated.

Information

Object Number

y711

Maker

Hieronymus Bosch

Medium

Oil and tempera on oak panel

Dates

ca. 1520

Dimensions

80 x 104 cm (31 1/2 x 40 15/16 in.) frame: 101 x 125.4 x 6.3 cm (39 3/4 x 49 3/8 x 2 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Allan Marquand, Class of 1874

Type

religious art, paintings

Subject

trials, soldiers, judges, basins, pitchers, men, Christianity, helmets, Christ, figures (representations), passion

Materials

panel (wood), tempera, oil paint

(Colnaghi, London); ca. 1891 purchase by Allan Marquand; ca. 1922-24 gift to Princeton University Art Museum [1].[1] A pencil annotation by Frances Follin Jones notes that a 1925 entry in the Museum's Inventory Book names Eleanor Cross Marquand (1873-1950) as the donor; later, however, Eleanor Marquand Delanoy [daughter of Allan Marquand and Eleanor Cross Marquand] said it was a gift of Allan Marquand.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/81353445

Allan Marquand, "A painting by Hieronymous Bosch in the Princeton Art Museum", Princeton University bulletin 14 (1903)., p. 41

4093 1903

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41641846

L. Maeterlinck, "A propos d'une oeuvre de Bosch au Musee de Gand", Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 20, no. 115 (Oct., 1906)., p. 302; fig. 2

4096 1906

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1296304

L. Maeterlinck, Le genre satirique dans la peinture flamande, (Bruxelles: G. van Oest & cie, 1907)., p. 231-232; pl. 25

4097 1907

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3570196

Paul Lafond, Hieronymus Bosch: son art, son influence, ses disciples, (Bruxelles; Paris: G. van Oest & cie, 1914)., p. 41-42; p. 16 (illus.)

4098 1914

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/428851041

L. von Baldass, "Die Chronologie der Gemälde des Hieronymus Bosch: Mit einer Tafel in Lichtdruck und acht Textabbildungen", Jahrbuch der Königlich Preuszischen Kunstsammlungen 38 (1917): p. 177-195., p. 194

4099 1917

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2417237

Walter Schürmeyer, Hieronymus Bosch: mit einer auswahl seiner werke in siebenundfünfzig lichtdrucktafeln, (München: R. Piper & co., 1923)., p. 45

4121 1923

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/888489649

Grete Ring, "[Rezension von:] Schürmeyer, Walter: Hieronymus Bosch", Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft 1 (1923): p. 310-311., p. 310

4122 1923

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3614681

Max J. Friedländer, Die altniederländische Malerei, (Berlin: P. Cassirer, 1924-1937)., Vol. 13: p. 157, no. 188

4102 1924

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/82471836

W.B. McCormick, "Princeton Museum, a workshop", International studio 83 (Sept., 1925)., p. 432 (illus.)

3676 1925

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1514254

Frank Jewett Mather Jr., "Painting", Art and archaeology 20, no. 3 (1925): p. 145-151., p. 145

3925 1925

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/15379595

Harry G. Sperling, Catalogue of a loan exhibition of Flemish primitives in aid of the Free Milk Fund for Babies, inc., (New York: F. Kleinberger Galleries, 1929)., no. 34 (illus.)

4092 1929

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1212912

Gustav Glück, Aus drei jahrhunderten europäischer Malerei; mit 141 Abbildungen, (Wien: A. Schroll, 1933)., p. 16

4094 1933

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6956293

Charles de Tolnay, Hieronymus Bosch, (Bâle: Les Éditions Holbein, 1937)., no. 35; p. 45, pl. 96.

4103 1937

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/537443

Ludwig Baldass, Hieronymus Bosch, (Wien: A. Schroll & Co. [1943])., p. 43, 73

4104 1943

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1307607

Jacques Combe, Jerome Bosch, (Paris: P. Tisne, 1946)., p. 67, no. 140

4095 1946

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/423530

Howard Daniel, Jheronimus Bosch, (New York: Hyperion Press, [1947])., p. 30 (illus.)

4105 1947

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2677488

Ernest Lotthé, La pensée chrétienne dans la peinture flamande et hollandaise de Van Eyck à Rembrandt (1432-1669), (Lille: S.I.L.I.C., Impr. de l’évêché, 1947)., p. 206; fig. 154

4109 1947

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5030080

J.V.L. Brans, Hieronymus Bosch (El Bosco) en el Prado y en el Escorial, (Barcelona: Ediciones Omega, [1948])., p. 41

4106 1948

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2013890

Gustav Glück, Der Weg zum Bild, Erlebtes, Erlauschtes, Erfundenes, (Vienna: A. Schroll, [1948])., pl. 14

4127 1948

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774379

Ernest T. DeWald, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 7, no. 2 (1948): p. 2-5., fig. 1, p. 2 (illus.); fig. 2, p. 3 (illus.)

4137 1948

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4631713

Jean Leymarie, Jérôme Bosch, (Paris: A. Somogy, [1949])., fig. 94, 95

4107 1949

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/517655

David M. Robb, The Harper history of painting: the occidental tradition, (New York: Harper, 1951)., p. 191-92; fig. 109

4108 1951

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/888644777

Gaston van Camp, "Autonomie de Jérôme Bosch et récentes interprétations de ses oeuvres", Bulletin (Musées royaux des beaux-arts de Belgique) 3, no. 4 (1954)., p. 133

4111 1954

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/888547181

Jan Bialostocki, "'Opus quinque dierum': Dürer's 'Christ among the doctors' and its sources", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 22 (1959): p. 17-34., p. 21; pl. 3e

4124 1959

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1000033

John Ives Sewall, A history of Western art, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1953)., p. 73-74, fig. 16.44

4110 1961

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4414674

Dino Buzzati, L’opera completa di Bosch, (Milano: Rizzoli, 1966)., no. 69

4112 1966

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/552606

Charles de Tolnay, Hieronymus Bosch, (New York: Reynal, 1966)., p. 376; cat. no. 35; p. 309 (illus.)

4114 1966

https://www.jstor.org/stable/775045

H.R.H., "The Art Museum at Princeton University: a selection from the collections", Art Journal 26, no. 2 (Winter, 1966-1967): p. 172+174+176+178., p. 174, fig. 9

3404 1966

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23211678

"Gallery of Mediaval and Renaissance Art: given by the Class of 1929," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 25, no. 1/2 (1966): 20–27., p. 27 (illus.)

7770 1966

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/888130914

Karl Arndt, "Zur Ausstellung "Jheronimus Bosch" 's-Hertogenbosch 1967", Kunstchronik 21, no. 1 (1968): p. 1-21., p. 18-19

4116 1968

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3352373

Brigitte Völker, Die Entwicklung des erzählenden Halbfigurenbildes in der niederländischen Malerei des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, (Göttingen: 1968)., p. 91-92

4120 1968

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3780436

Walter S. Gibson, ""Imitatio Christi": "Imitatio Christi": the passion scenes of Hieronymus Bosch", Simiolus 6, no. 2 (1972-1973): p. 83-93., p. 86-87

4126 1972

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2467624

Rosemarie Schuder, Hieronymus Bosch, (Berlin: Union-Verlag, 1975)., p. 60-61, fig. 62

4113 1975

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/888400081

Gerd Unverfehrt, "Zu einigen Halbfigurenbildern Hieronymus Boschs und seines Kreises", Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (1975): p. 101-151., fig. 9; p. 121-129

4117 1975

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5266471

Jacques Chailley, Jérôme Bosch et ses symboles: essai de décryptage, (Bruxelles: Palais des Académies, 1978)., no. 69

4119 1978

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/781223467

Gerd Unverfehrt, Hieronymus Bosch: die Rezeption seiner Kunst im frühen 16. Jahrhundert, (Berlin: Mann, 1980)., cat. no. 32; fig. 74, 27, 129-133, 146, 254

4115 1980

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122846822

Terada Tōru and Senzoku Nobuyuki, Bossu = Bosch, (Tokyo: Chūō Kōronsha, 1982)., no. 94 (illus.)

4123 1982

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11136550

Sixten Ringbom, Icon to narrative: the rise of the dramatic close-up in fifteenth-century devotional painting, (Doornspijk, The Netherlands: Davaco, 1984)., fig. 57, p. 104

4118 1984

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/15094737

Kim H. Veltman and Kenneth D. Keele, Studies on Leonardo da Vinci, (München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, [1986]-)., vol. 1: pl. 67.2

4128 1986

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/14244748

Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 55 (illus.)

1899 1986

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22888919

Robert L. Delevoy, Bosch, (New York: Rizzoli, 1990)., p. 53

4129 1990

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774779

Betsy Rosasco, "The teaching of art and the museum tradition: Joseph Henry to Allan Marquand," in "An art museum for Princeton: the early years", special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 55, no. 1/2 (1996): p. 7-52., p. 42, fig. 27

3052 1996

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/936763317

Nadia Margolis, "Trial by passion: philology, film, and ideology in the portrayal of Joan of Arc", The journal of medieval and early modern studies 27, no. 3 (Fall, 1997)., p. 451; fig. 4

4130 1997

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/802983561

Erik Larsen, Hieronymus Bosch: the complete paintings by the visionary master, (New York: Smithmark, 1998)., no. 34; p. 135

4135 1998

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48461179

Jos Koldeweij, Paul Vandenbroeck and Bernard Vermet, Hieronymus Bosch: the complete paintings and drawings, (Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen : NAi ; Ghent: Ludion, 2001)., cat. no. 14.4

4134 2001

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49226208

Timothy P. Jackson, The priority of love: Christian charity and social justice, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003)., p. 167 (illus.)

80 2003

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/68133064

Larry Silver, Hieronymus Bosch, (New York: Abbeville Press, 2006)., no. 262, p. 335 (illus.)

4136 2006

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191864564

Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), 172 (illus.)

474 2007

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5548228341

Louise Rice, "Pomis sua nomina dervant: the emblematic thesis prints of the Roman seminary", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 70 (2007): p. 195-245.

877 2007

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/779255214

Fritz Koreny, ed., Hieronymus Bosch: Die Zeichnungen, Werkstatt und Nachfolge bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts, (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012)., fig. 43, p. 50 (illus.), 455

1396 2012

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/865020505

Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 222

1994 2013