The Karlsruhe Passion - Divestment of Jesus Christ

One of the most dense and expressive masterworks of the collection draws the viewer with dramatic vehemence into the centre of the Passion story, which is portrayed in great detail.

It was most probably Hans Hirtz who created this work, which is named after the city in which it now resides. The "Karlsruhe Passion" was originally painted around 1450/55 for the St. Thomas Church in Strasbourg. From this cycle, which was once much more extensive, the Kunsthalle today owns "The Prayer on the Mount of Olives", "The Flagellation", "The Crown of Thorns". "The Bearing of the Cross", "The Divestment", and "The Nailing on the Cross".

The painter depicts the last stations in Christ's life with surprisingly keen realism and unsettling explicitness. In tumultuous scenes on the small-format paintings, gruesome, highly differentiated characters of the henchmen crowd around their victim. The work is astonishing, not only due to the painter's ability to render materiality and atmosphere. He also succeeds in articulating the various states of mind and moral postures of the figures through their facial expressions and gestures; an interest in the psychology of the characters is evident. The master shows meticulous attention to detail in portraying clothing, headpieces, armour and weapons, as well as the methods of torture and cruelty.

The images eloquently bear witness to the familiarity with the barbarism of war and violence, which was typical to the era in which they were painted. The chaos and claustrophobia in the composition form a critical and captivating mirror of an epoch marked by crisis.