Christ Crowned with Thorns

Christ sits on a stone bench surrounded by three tormentors. The crown is so spiny that one of the men holds it with a pair of tongs while another forces it down onto Christ’s head with a fork. The third man, kneeling before him and sticking out his tongue, hands Christ his “scepter, ” a sapling or tree-branch, from which, according to legend, another cross could grow. In the background, two figures wearing elaborate headgear attend the shameful act. They are Caiaphas and Pilate who represent Semitic and Roman opposition to and official mistreatment of Christ. This is a proof printed prior to the regular edition of Albrecht Dürer’s Small Passion, a book in which he visually narrated key stories of the life of Christ.