Diptych with the Passion of Christ

c. 1400

Austria, Styria, 15th century

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Medium

tempera and gold on wood oak

Measurements

Unframed: 45.7 x 27 cm (18 x 10 5/8 in.); Including original molding: 52.4 x 34.3 cm (20 5/8 x 13 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1945.115

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Location

111 German and Austrian Gothic

Did You Know?

This painting was probably not originally a diptych but part of a larger ensemble.

Description

This diptych, or two-panel painting, is hinged at the center so that it could be opened and closed and easily transported. It was clearly designed as an object for private devotion. The owner would have been able to contemplate the Passion of Christ and pray before these scenes. The top two images depict Christ’s scourging at the pillar and the crowning of thorns, while the lower two show Jesus before Pontius Pilate and in the Garden of Gethsemane. The scenes would have been read clockwise beginning with the lower right. On the back of these panels are remnants of paintings that have since been scraped off.