Christ at the Column Flemish Sculptor

The autonomous picture type of Christ tied to a column evolved in the fifteenth century from depictions of the Flagellation, gaining particular popularity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Sculptures on this theme are frequently representations of physical suffering and pain, but the finely crafted Budapest piece instead presents an image of Christ accepting his fate with dignity. The body, with its classical structure and pronounced contrapposto, is covered only by a loincloth. The work is reminiscent of the ivory carving titled Christ Bound by the Flemish sculptor François Duquesnoy (1597–1643), preserved in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.