An engraving depicts Christ as vulnerable and afraid in the centre of a tiles room with tall columns visible. Christ is tied to a column with a halo identifying him. Three tormenters whip him, whilst a few others and around watching or sitting. The onlookers wear armour and carry swords, shields or spears.
Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), Flagellation, 1465-1470, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

Flagellation

Andrea Mantegna

Breaking with tradition, this powerful engraving depicts the tortured Christ as vulnerable and afraid, recoiling as his tormentors scourge him. One of the first Italian artists to embrace printmaking, Mantegna was attracted by its potential for creating original compositions that disseminated his work to a wider audience.

A surviving preparatory drawing for the figure of Christ, also in The Courtauld’s collection, demonstrates that he devised the composition himself. The sculptural quality of the bodies is achieved by modelling them with light and shade using a range of parallel lines. 

Sketch study for 'Christ at the Column', showing two figures with hands tied behind their back, depictions of the same figure. One figure is tied to a visible column and has a halo.
Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), Studies for Christ at the Column (recto), early to mid 1460s, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld
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Two men sit across from each other at a table covered with a brown tablecloth, playing cards. Both men wear overcoats and hats, and the man on the left smokes a pipe. They sit inside a wooden building. i Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) The Card Players, around 1892-96, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

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