Christ Crowned with Thorns

c. 1622 · Painting

May one see it?

Unknown

Rijksmuseum

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.

Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the painting

Before Christ’s trial, Roman soldiers placed a plaited crown of thorns on his head, dressed him in a cloak and mocked him. After all, was he not the ‘King of the Jews’? The scene is dramatically illuminated by a torch, held by the boy at the left. Honthorst probably made this painting for a clandestine Catholic church (schuilkerk) in Amsterdam.

Rijksmuseum

Particulars

Accession number: SK-A-4837

What it shows

Mockings of Christ, who may be blindfolded The crowning with thorns: soldiers with sticks place a thorny crown on Christ's head and give him a reed (Matthew 27:27-31 Mark 15:16-20 John 19:2-3)

In the catalog

Paintings Oil Dutch painting Baroque 17th century

Sources

Rijksmuseum
Image: Rijksmuseum — public domain

Meanwhile, in the life of Gerard van Honthorst

The whole life

c. 1610 – 1620
At the palace of Marquis Giustiniani in Rome
In Rome Honthorst lodged at the palace of Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani, where he painted “Christ Before the High Priest” (now in the National Gallery, London), and under Caravaggio's influence took up night scenes lit by a hidden artificial source. Italian documents of his day call him “Gherardo Fiammingo” or “Gherardo Hollandese”: the nickname “Gherardo delle Notti” came into use only in the 18th century.
c. 1610 – 1620
Commissions from Cardinal Scipione Borghese
Cardinal Scipione Borghese became another important patron, securing him commissions at San Silvestro in Monte Compatri and Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. The artist also worked for Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
1620
Returns to Utrecht
Back in Utrecht, Honthorst built a considerable reputation at home and abroad: Sir Dudley Carleton, the English envoy at The Hague, recommended his work to the Earl of Arundel, and his work impressed the young Rembrandt and Frans Hals.
1622
The Guild of St. Luke and a drawing academy
Honthorst was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke and the same year opened a drawing academy in Utrecht, in fact a small studio for visiting pupils. According to Joachim von Sandrart, his pupil in the mid-1620s, the master taught about 24 students at a time, each paying 100 guilders a year.
1623
Marries and heads the Guild of St. Luke
In the year of his marriage Honthorst was president of the Guild of St. Luke in Utrecht.