NAVIGATION

A Fine Netherlandish Carved Boxwood Panel Depicting the Crowning of Christ with Thorns in a detailed Architectural setting 
Perhaps from a Private devotional retable 
Early 17th Century

Size: 15cm high, 11cm wide, 2.5cm deep - 6 ins high, 4¼ ins wide, 1 ins deep

After the flagellation, a cohort of soldiers gathered around Christ in Pilate’s headquarters who stripped Him, put a purple robe around His shoulders, a twisted crown of thorns on His head and a reed in imitation of a sceptre in His hand. They knelt before Him and cried, ‘Hail, King of the Jews’ then dressed Him in His own clothes and lead Him away to be crucified. Carved with a scene from Christ's Passion, the panel would have provided a focus for prayer and meditation and may have been used in conjunction with a set text such as the ‘Via Crucis’ or stations of the cross, a devotion which comprises fourteen images from the Passion before which prayers and passages of the gospels are recited during Holy Week.
     The Crown of Thorns is a parody of the crown of roses that the Roman Emperor wore at festivals, and is portrayed as a circular woven ring. The soldiers being recorded as having twisted thorns into a crown. Together with the cross, nails and whip, it is a potent symbol of Good Friday.