Christ Crowned with Thorns

Christ Crowned with Thorns

SK-A-4837

Before Christ’s trial, Roman soldiers placed a plaited crown of thorns on his head, dressed him in a cloak and mocked him. After all, was he not the ‘King of the Jews’? The scene is dramatically illuminated by a torch, held by the boy at the left. Honthorst probably made this painting for a clandestine Catholic church (schuilkerk) in Amsterdam.

B. Nicolson, 'Caravaggio and the Netherlands', The Burlington Magazine 94 (1952), p. 251

painter: Gerard van Honthorst

c. 1622

olieverf op doek

• depth 7.5 cm
• weight 55 kg
• height 192.4 cm x width 221.5 cm

Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, the Stichting Jubileumfonds Rijksmuseum and the Rijksmuseum-Stichting

purchase 1986

Public domain

? Commissioned by or for the church `Het Stadhuis van Hoorn´, later the Dominicuskerk, Amsterdam;{Schillemans 1992, pp. 46-47; Schillemans 1995, p. 67.} ? First mentioned in the Dominicuskerk, 1765;{Wagenaar II, 1765, p. 211: `Boven, in ´t midden der Kerke, staat een ruimte en lugtige Koepel, tegen welke, eene bespotting van Christus geschilderd is.´} on loan to the museum from the Dominicuskerk, 1887-99 (SK-C-479);{RANH, ARS, IS, inv. 167, no. 154 (March 1887); RANH, ARS, Kop, inv. 289, p. 134, no. 294 (8 April 1887).} purchased from the Dominicuskerk by the museum, with support from the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Rijksmuseum-Stichting, 1986

Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

• B. Nicolson, 'Caravaggio and the Netherlands', The Burlington Magazine 94 (1952), p. 251
• Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Jaarverslag 2006, p. 54
• G.A. Meijer, Gedenkboek der Dominicanen in Nederland 1803-1910, Nijmegen 1912, p. 257
• H. Braun, Gerard van Honthorst, Göttingen 1966, cat.nr. 35
• Peter Hecht en Ger Luijten, 'Nederland verzamelt oude meesters. Tien jaar aankopen en achtergronden', Kunstschrift Openbaar Kunstbezit 6 (1986) p. 200-201, afb. 30
• H. Gerson, 'Die Ausstellung Caravaggio und die Niederlande', Kunstchronik 5 (1952), p. 289

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20028095