Guido Reni (Bologna, 1575 - 1642) Ecce Homo

Attributed to Guido Reni (Bologna, 1575 – 1642) , Ecce Homo, ca. 1636. Oil on canvas, measuring 84.5 x 65 centimetres and executed in the indistinguishable style of the artist. The painting is unsigned but bears some annotations to the back. In this uncommonly vivid depiction of the pivotal scene in the life of Christ, Guido Reni shows us a Christ entirely alone but not in somber manner usually seen in the works of the period. Instead, he is surrounded by a glow, a light that breaks through the darkness of the moment. The title Ecce Homo -‘Behold the Man’ – is taken from the words Pontius Pilate used to address the crowd when presenting Jesus to them after he had been scourged. But despite the feelings of pity, even guilt, that the image provokes in the Christian viewer, there is a sense of hope. There is a hint here at Christ’s divinity, a clue to the salvation that this suffering will bring in the faint halo which surrounds him and reminds the viewer that this broken figure is more than human, that he has not been forsaken, and that despite the mocking accoutrements of earthly kingship, he is God made flesh. The work shows restorations to the canvas and the paint particularly towards the edges. It seems to have been relined at some point. Presented unframed. Provenance: A collection in Toulouse, France.

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