01 Work, RELIGIOUS ART - After Gérard Seghers' Christ at the column, With Footnotes - #137

After Gérard Seghers

Christ at the column

Oil on panel

64,5 x 50 cm ; 25 ⅜ by 19 ¾ in.

Private collection

Sold for 7,560 EUR in November 2022

The painting shows the flagellation of Christ following his arrest and trial and before his crucifixion. The scene was traditionally depicted in front of a column, possibly alluding to the judgement hall of Pilate. 

This painting may be compared with Preparations for the Flagellation of Christ by Gerard Seghers. Produced for the church of Saint-Michel de Gand, the composition was disseminated in an engraving by Lucas Vorsterman (ill. 1; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. RP-P-OB-33.014). The author of this painting was clearly inspired by the print: he has shown the same two torturers in the background, but above all he has reflected the composition’s theatricality, created through the play of shadow and light and given further emphasis by the tight framing. Christ’s pale, luminous flesh tones contrast with the brown background as well as with the ruddier complexions of the torturers, giving the divine figure a monumental quality.

However, this is not an exact copy: the movement of Christ’s torso recalls the Flagellation of Christ by Caravaggio, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen (inv. 955.8.1). This exaggerated torsion also adds to the power of the composition, reinforcing its dramatic character. More on this painting

Gerard Seghers (bapt. Antwerp, 17 Mar. 1591; d Antwerp, 18 Mar. 1651) was a Flemish painter of religious subjects, active mainly in Antwerp, where he is said to have been taught by Janssen. He probably spent most of the second decade of the 17th century in Italy (he evidently also visited Spain during this time) and he became one of the very few noteworthy Flemish Caravaggesque artists. By the late 1620s, however, he had fallen under the all-pervasive influence of Rubens (Assumption of the Virgin, 1629, Mus. de Peinture et de Sculpture, Grenoble). Seghers enjoyed a successful career supplying altarpieces for churches in Antwerp and other Flemish cities, and he was also an international art dealer. More on Gerard Seghers

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