Christ Mocked and Crowned with Thorns

Valentin De Boulogne (1594-1632)
17th century, Oil on canvas

This painting, executed in Rome after 1620 and in a good state of conservation, is not yet widely known. It is attributed to the workshop of Valentin de Boulogne, a French painter who arrived in Rome a few years after Caravaggio's death in 1610. Two other contemporary versions showing the same subject and composition are known by this French painter, who was a true heir to Caravaggio. This version depicts the episode of the Passion of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew in which two of Pilate's soldiers, after having stripped Christ, mockingly dress him as the King of the Jews, with a scarlet cloak, a crown of thorns on his head and a cane for a sceptre in his right hand.