Collections: European Art: The Scourging on the Front (La flagellation de face)

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The Scourging on the Front (La flagellation de face)

• Portfolio/Series: The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ (La Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ)

According to John, while the Roman governor continues to find Jesus blameless, he accedes to pressure from the priests and decides to “chastise” him through scourging. Jesus is bound, defenseless, to a marble column and whipped before a crowded court as Pilate looks on from the palace loggia in the background.

Christ’s tormentors perform a punishment most likely inflicted, Tissot tells his readers, with leather whips weighted with pieces of bone.


• Artist: James Tissot, French, 1836-1902
• Medium: Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper
• Place Made: France
• Dates: 1886-1894
• Dimensions: Image: 14 1/4 x 9 11/16 in. (36.2 x 24.6 cm) Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 11/16 in. (36.2 x 24.6 cm)
• Signature: Signed bottom left: "J.J. Tissot"
• Collections: European Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Robert E. Blum Gallery, 1st Floor
• Accession Number: 00.159.263
• Credit Line: Purchased by public subscription
• Image: Overall, 00.159.263_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2008
James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Scourging on the Front (La flagellation de face), 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 14 1/4 x 9 11/16 in. (36.2 x 24.6 cm) Sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 11/16 in. (36.2 x 24.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.263 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 00.159.263_PS2.jpg)