![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.](https://courtauld.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/G.1978.PG_.6-scaled-0x800-c-default.jpg)
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.](https://courtauld.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/D.1978.PG_.345-e1619627848407-438x700.jpg)
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Explore The Courtauld’s remarkable collection of paintings, prints and drawings, sculpture and decorative arts.
Explore![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.](https://courtauld.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/The-Card-Players-Banner-0x700-c-default.jpg)