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Anthony Van Dyck, 'Ecce Homo', 1621-7

 

It is difficult for the eye to decipher the true subject of this work. Most critics agree that Van Dyck depicts an Ecce Homo, the Latin words with which Pontius Pilate presented Christ, although others prefer to label it as a Man of Sorrows. Certainly the pain, emotion, resolution and turmoil is visible in both Christ's features and his body language. Like many artists Van Dyck seems attracted to this subject displaying deep suffering. The choice of a three-quarter length, turned profile allows the artist to exploit the stark nudity of Christ against a dark background. The flesh is dimpled, the arms veined and muscled, with flecks of blue in the canvas to give a human touch to Christ. The hands of Christ are brought in front of him, tied to show his capture and torment. A single tear drops down his deeply shadowed face, the twisting profile allowing Van Dyck to present heightened emotion. The light from his crown of thorns is all that pierces the darkness, echoed by the heavenly glow that seems to emanate from his pale skin. 

But there is another figure in this painting, difficult to see on the reproduction. In the right corner a Sub-Saharan African soldier spreads the royal robe behind Christ's back in a mocking gesture. His grinning face is disconcerting in the midst of the suffering of Christ, coupled with his twinkling eye. The contrast of the light and dark skin has been made very clear by the artist, as the black soldier is almost lost to the darkness of the canvas background completely. In this painting whiteness seemingly connotes power, incorporating seventeenth century racial views into the scene and ideas that still ring true today. Despite some sort of tear shape that falls from the eye of the black soldier mirroring Christ, recent examination of the painting has determined that this is a splash mark on the varnish. These details are much easier for the eye to digest in person at the Barber Institute in Birmingham. 

The painting is said to have come from the Palazzo Balbi in Genoa. Van Dyck certainly spent several years in Italy collecting works by fellow masters, and amassed a small but well focused collection. He certainly owned one religious subject by Titian, which happened to also be an Ecce Homo. However he recorded a number of different versions of the subject in his Italian Sketchbook, which perhaps shows why these piece is so emotionally evocative. A Man of Sorrows also by the artist is held in the Courtauld collection and has been suggested by Count Seilern as a modello for the later work in Birmingham. The rendering of both anatomy and drapery certainly is more developed and finished than the painting Seilern refers to. The drooping, weighty head of Christ coupled with the unsettling nature of the soldier come together in this particular piece for added emotional power.

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