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This is one of two panels in the National Gallery’s collection which were once probably part of the shutters of an altarpiece made for the high altar of the Benedictine abbey at Liesborn. The shutters would have been attached to either side of the main panel. The Roman governor Pontius Pilate was reluctant to condemn Christ to death but feared popular unrest if he did not. According to the Gospel of Matthew, he ‘took water, and washed his hands before the multitude’, saying that he was not to blame for Christ’s death (Matthew 27: 24). Here he is seated on a throne while a servant pours water over his hands into a basin. Christ stands beside Pilate, his body slumped, looking weary and dejected. He wears the crown of thorns; it has pierced his forehead, and blood runs down his face.
Title
Christ before Pilate
Date
about 1520
Medium
Oil on oak
Measurements
H 99.1 x W 69.2 cm
Accession number
NG2154
Acquisition method
Bought, 1854
Work type
Painting
