The Man of Sorrows (Christ Crowned with Thorns)

Gallery 313, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Main Building

The Man of Sorrows (Christ Crowned with Thorns)

c. 1490

Domenico Ghirlandaio (Italian (active Florence and Rome), 1449–1494)

This moving image of Jesus Christ crying in sorrow is based on a painting by Hans Memling (Netherlandish, first documented 1465, died 1494). It has been identified as the work of Domenico Ghirlandaio, a contemporary of Memling who worked in Florence. Ghirlandaio is known to have particularly appreciated the Netherlandish artist’s work, which Italian merchants brought to Florence from Memling’s native Bruges.

Ghirlandaio made copies of a number of Netherlandish masterpieces, and while he successfully imitated the effects of Netherlandish oil painting, he did so in the traditional Italian medium of egg tempera.

Gallery 313, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Object Details

Title:

The Man of Sorrows (Christ Crowned with Thorns)

Date:

c. 1490

Artist:

Domenico Ghirlandaio (Italian (active Florence and Rome), 1449–1494)

Medium:

Egg tempera on panel

Dimensions:

21 3/8 × 13 1/4 × 3/4 inches (54.3 × 33.7 × 1.9 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

Accession Number:

Cat. 1176a

Geography:

Made in Florence, Italy, Europe

Provenance

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Gallery 313, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Main Building

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