Ecce Homo

second half 16th century

German 16th Century

Associated Names
This is a rectangular relief sculpture featuring a group of interacting people, most appearing engaged in discussion or discourse. There are nine individuals dressed in robes, cloaks, and hats. Six of them are in a line in the background of the sculpture, some with their mouths open and hands raised, facing us. On the right, a man stands on a wide round plinth. He is nude except for a cloth tied around his waist and a cape flowing over his shoulders. His hands appear bound, and he holds what looks like a long feather or stalk of wheat. He has a beard and long hair, and a circlet that looks like a large chain around his head. On the left, in front of the line of observers, two robed figures face the bound man with their arms stretched towards him. The sculpture is a bright gold color, with some slight chipping around the edges.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gilded copper

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 6 x 8.3 cm (2 3/8 x 3 1/4 in.) gross weight: 36 gr

  • Accession Number

    1942.9.194


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Oscar Hainauer [d. 1894], Berlin; his wife, Julie Hainauer, Berlin; acquired 1906 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); by exchange 21 October 1920 to Joseph E. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1897

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, ed. Die Sammlung Oscar Hainauer / The Collection of Oscar Hainauer. [bound as one volume, English and German pages interleaved in one page sequence] Berlin, 1897 and London, 1906:, no. 240.

1908

  • A Cabinet of One Hundred & Thirty-Three Bronze Plaques and Medals of the Renaissance Period from the Collection of the Late Herr Oscar Hainauer of Berlin. Ed. Duveen Brothers. London, n.d. (but 1908): no. 43, repro.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 15.

1983

  • Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 163, no. 26.

Wikidata ID

Q63809457

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