Ecce Homo

Procaccini's Ecce Homo is a grandiose depiction of the flagellated Christ presented by Pontius Pilate to the masses. Perhaps it is Pilate that we see at the upper left, his visage a study of disdainful indifference to the scene that transpires before him. The gestures and faces of the figures below, and the soldier at upper right, are intensely dramatic. They contrast starkly with the body of the suffering Christ, his head bowed in gentle acceptance of his fate. The exaggerated gestures, the peculiar pose of Christ, and the schematically angled compositional structure indicate the impact of mannerism, wherein late Renaissance aesthetics combine with the dramatic emotionalism and theatricality typical of the early Baroque period.