Crowning with thorns

Sisla's master (attrib.)

• CE00029
• 1480-1510
• Oil on canvas

This work has been recently attributed to the circle of the so-called Sisla's master, who worked in Castille during the last third of the 15th century. The work comes from a convent in Toledo, and was acquired by the Museum's trust in 1921, with the idea of creating a Museum of Spanish art in which El Greco's work would be at the center of the exhibition.

The theatrical violence of the soldiers, as wall as the composition and the folding of clothes, are characteristic of 15th century German works, probably known through prints. These representations had a good reception with Castillian and Aragonese painters, who used them in numerous occasions.

The scene, taken from evangelical texts, takes place in a narrow interior, with Christ in the center surrounded by figures, some of them putting the crown of thorns on his head, while some other figures mockingly worship him as the King of Jews. This is a crowded composition, with figures filling the foreground, and a wide cromatic variety seen in the figure's clothing: rouge tones, violets, and greens, as well as the gold of Christ's halo and some details in the clothes. The contrast between the serenity of the prisoner and the excited, almost cartoonish, brutality, of the other figures, adds drama to the scene.