Description
Christ is shown bound to a column while two executioners prepare to scourge him, with the entire action concentrated within a restricted space dominated by darkness. Caravaggio eliminates unnecessary architectural and narrative references and brings the figures close to the viewer.
Christ's illuminated body forms the visual centre of the composition, while the executioners emerge partially from the shadows and engage in immediate physical actions, preparing the ropes and restraining their victim. The painting belongs to Caravaggio's first Neapolitan period and demonstrates the increasing concentration of his art on a small number of monumental figures modelled through powerful contrasts of light and darkness.
The column loses much of the monumental importance traditionally associated with the iconography of the Flagellation and functions primarily as the element determining Christ's posture.
