The Flagellation

Northern artists around 1500 had a fondness for the grotesque, particularly as a metaphor for evil. This indigenous fascination with ugliness found full expression in Christ's enemies. Albrecht Dürer's woodcut is a masterful display of jeering, scowling derision. He likened the mob to animals, as indicated by the men on the ground, one of whom is posed like the mangy dog. The Passion tracts concocted many tales around the theme of hair-pulling, a detail Dürer could not resist.