Pilate Washing His Hands [recto]

c. 1440/1450

German 15th Century

Associated Names
German 15th Century

Artist

The image shows various people within an architectural setting. One central figure has a halo, wearing a long robe with long hair and a beard. Five other individuals surround this central figure; one person in pink is seated on a decorated platform washing their hands in a basin, helped by another person in green. The remaining figures wear brightly colored garments and hats, standing behind the central figure. The background features an arched structure and patterned flooring.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in lavender, rose, green, yellow, brown, blue, and red on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 7.2 × 5.5 cm (2 13/16 × 2 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.858.a

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, no. 282, State a

  • Series Title

    Two Scenes from a Passion Series

Associated Artworks

The image contains a group of people from head to toe. In the center, there is a figure wearing a crown of thorns with a red and yellow halo. This figure is partially clothed with a red robe, standing under a structure, and has visible marks on the skin. Surrounding them are several other standing figures. The person to the right of the central figure is dressed in green garments and wearing a turban. The others in the group are dressed in robes of varying colors such as blue, pink, and yellow, some with head coverings. The background includes architectural elements, like an arched canopy and patterned flooring beneath the central figure, with a plain background behind the other people.

Ecce Homo [verso]

German 15th Century

1440

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Oettingen-Wallerstein Collection, Maihingen. W.M.H. Milner. (Sotheby's, 18 December 1936, no. 140); purchased 18 December 1936 by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1943

  • Selections from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1943-1944, pp. 10-11, repro.

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 44, repro.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

1965

  • Field, Richard S. Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1965.

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q64953498

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