On the morning of what is now celebrated as “Good Friday,” Jesus was brought to the Roman governor of Judea Pontius Pilate. Charged with subverting the nation and declaring himself a king, Pilate ultimately found Jesus innocent and resolved to have him whipped and released. Unsatisfied, the Jewish leaders demanded Jesus’s death. Antonio Ciseri’s famous painting “Ecce Homo (Behold the Man!)” captures the moment when Pilate presents Jesus to the hostile crowd, giving them the choice of saving Barabbas, a criminal, or saving Jesus. Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified to prevent a riot.
An Italian Master from Another Century
Antonio Ciseri (1821–1891) was born in Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1833, he traveled to Florence to study drawing by Ernesto Bonaiuti. Less than a year later, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence (Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze) under Niccola and Pietro Benvenuti. However, Ciseri’s early artistic career was greatly informed by the teachings of the neoclassical Florentine artist Giuseppe Bezzuoli. By 1849, Ciseri was teaching his own apprentices, including Italian realist painter Silvestro Lega.
Ciseri’s artistry is masterful: His brushwork is precise—almost photographic—and his fabrics are brilliantly rendered. He was an accomplished portraitist in his time, but his religious commissions show that he drew freely from the great masters of the High Renaissance. The perspective, lighting, and composition of “Ecce Homo” echoes the artistry of Raphael.
The Latin title of this painting, translated to “Behold the Man!,” refers to the words spoken by Pilate, when he presented the scourged Christ, crowned with thorns, to the crowds shortly before the Crucifixion.
Ciseri’s perspective of the scene is unique, placing the viewer behind Pilate’s aides, guards, secretary, and wife. Capturing a photographic view from the rear of the trial, we witness the backs of Christ and Pilate. Diminished by the backlighting of his white robe, Pilates stands in the center of the composition acquiescing to the crowd. The crowd, softened by aerial perspective, is seen through a massive railing.
Pilate leans forward and dramatically gestures towards the figure of Christ. The strength of Christ is seen solely in his stance: He is in bonds, has just been scourged, yet he stands tall. Regarding the allegation against him, Pilate asks, “Are you a king?” to which Christ responds that his kingdom is not of this world.
According to a video story from the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, the painting was “a real ‘mise-en-scène’ [stage arrangement including the set design, lighting, and actors] with references to the great Italian drama“ of the 19th century. It also harkens back to the work of masters like Leonardo da Vinci, whose ”The Last Supper“ departed from the traditional portrayal of the Eucharist to create a tableau of the moment of Jesus announcing to the disciples, “One of you will betray me” (John 13:21). Like Raphael’s ”The School of Athens,” a carefully constructed perspective is used to frame the story. Ciseri also borrowed photographic techniques and referenced Ernest Renan’s literary work, “Life of Jesus” for his composition.
All the figures in Ciseri’s painting are depicted from behind or in profile, except for Pilate’s wife. She had seen Jesus in a dream earlier that morning, and warned Pilate to “have nothing to do with this righteous man” (Matthew 27:19). The artist captured a moment of intimacy between Pilate’s wife and her servant. Turning away from the scene with a troubled expression, she grievously places her hand on her servant’s shoulder, quietly expressing her conviction of Christ’s innocence.
Entombment of Christ
Around the same time that Ciseri painted “Ecce Homo,” he painted another famous scene of the entombment of Christ. “The Transport of Christ to the Sepulcher” (also known as “The Entombment”), painted in 1883, shows Christ’s body being carried to the tomb. One of the men in the painting is presumed to be Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple who used his own prepared tomb to bury Jesus.The Virgin, mother of Christ, looks heavenward in her grief. Beside her is a woman whose face is hidden under her hair. Mary Magdalene, the woman Jesus cast seven devils out of, became his disciple and provided for the ministry by the labor of her hands. It was this Mary who anointed Jesus’s feet with nard (an expensive perfume) and washed them with her hair.
A Renaissance Man in the Age of Photography
Proficient with the composition and color of the great Renaissance masters, Ciseri was nonetheless a man whose feet were firmly planted in the 19th century. As an excellent draftsman, Ciseri found use for the newly invented medium of photography. In contrast to the impressionists, who felt photography could capture reality better than artists and so were motivated to move painting away from realism, Ciseri used still images to expand his power of observation.
Ciseri melded observation, sketching, and photography to infuse life into his paintings. He discovered the benefits of the new technology but was not blind to its limitations. Relying on photographic references often led artists to depict stiff figures, devoid of emotions. He managed to avoid that tendency and tenderly captured subtlety of facial expression in his portraits.
Until his death in 1891, Ciseri remained active in the art community—as an artist and teacher. His ability to portray the spirituality and emotional nuances of his subjects with such detail and realism remain an important testimony to 19th-century art and marks the crossover from Neoclassicism into Romanticism. His protégés went on to become some of the finest painters of the Romantic Period.
