Titian 1487/90 – 1576

The Crowning with Thorns (1545)

oil on panel (303 × 180 cm) — c.1545 Musée du Louvre, Paris

Titian biography

This work is linked to Mark 15:17

Using sticks men place the crown of thorns on Jesus' head. They then turn it till he bleeds. They also put a reed in his hands. The statue of emperor Tiberius suggests that it all happened with Roman approval.

Titian shows Jesus with his head tilted and his mouth half open, perhaps after the famous sculpture of Laocoön which was rediscovered in 1506.

Later, in the 1570's, Titian made another painting on the subject.

Rate this work of art: