Rembrandt - Circle Lot n° 5

After Jesus was condemned by Pontius Pilate, the Roman soldiers undressed him, put on a purple coat, crowned him with the crown of thorns, put a stick as a scepter in his hand and mockedly paid homage to him as "King of the Jews". The crown of thorns was often moved to a dark dungeon in order to work with a dramatic lighting direction. Here the violent mockery is illuminated from above by a candlestick with flickering oil lights. Very unusual is the detail of the man who grabbed Jesus by the cloak with one hand and holds his right hand over a glass bowl that another minion handed him. What he is doing, or intending is not recognizable, unfortunately there are no comparative examples. Maybe he's holding a sponge to wipe the blood off Jesus' face. 38 × 28 cm Oil on copper