Flagellation of Christ

This engraving depicts the Flagellation, a scene from the Passion where Christ is tormented before his crucifixion. Christ is shown from behind, his musculature highlighted against the rigid column, while the executioners are frozen in dynamic, aggressive poses. A crowd of onlookers in contemporary 16th-century attire watches the scene from the shadows of a vaulted interior.

As a leader of the Haarlem Mannerists, Goltzius was part of an intellectual circle influenced by Neoplatonic and Hermetic ideas regarding the artist's role as a divinely inspired creator. This series demonstrates his 'Protean' ability to masterfully emulate the styles of earlier artists like Dürer, a practice of 'aemulatio' that served as both a technical and spiritual exercise.