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Piero Della Francesca’s the Flagellation of Christ

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Submitted By tomrem
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The Flagellation of Christ by Piero della Francesca is a complex and unusual depiction of the flagellation. The painting was so unusual that the Gardener textbook had extremely limited information regarding the artwork. It was created in the mid fourteenth century, making it a quattrocento, and utilizes the styles of renascence art. The group of three men in the foreground contains the main theme of the painting that is the Christian acceptance and Jewish rejection of Jesus as the messiah and how that created a divide in theological beliefs between the two groups. Through a visual analysis it is apparent that this image is unlike almost any other Christian depiction of the life of Jesus. In this representation of the Flagellation Jesus is not the main focus; rather he is confined to the background of the image. This is an unprecedented reversal of Jesus and surrounding figures in Christian artwork. The main focus is of a group of three men in the foreground. This is apparent due to their location relative to the location of Jesus. It is easily seen that the group of three men are in the foreground due to the artist’s clear lines on the floor that creates a three-dimensional scene. Although there is distance between the groups, there is a clear connection between them. Jesus and his group of tormentors reflect the first triad. This is further supported by the similarities between the posture of Jesus and the middle youth in the foreground. The fact that the two groups are connected shows that Piero’s main point lies in the foreground, but is heavily supported by the flagellation. The three men composing the foreground appear to be somewhat prominent due to their colorful clothing. The two men on the sides are both wearing shoes while the one in the middle is not, which gives evidence to the idea that the man in the center is of lower class or age. This is also

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