Malines manufacture, 17th century, Christ mocked

Malines manufacture, 17th century

Christ mocked

Alabaster with golden highlights, 12,5 x 10 cm 

Gilded wooden frame, 21,5 x 19 cm

Unlike the Flagellation, which usually sees Christ beaten at the column, the episode of the mocked Redeemer includes several other moments: in the present work, the thugs in fact bring the scourges closer to Jesus, while in the perspective thrust presumably Pontius Pilate and some judges find their place Pharisees, already indicating the crowd that we must imagine beyond the arch in a narrative prefiguration of the story. The thoughtful scenographic organization, excavated in high and low relief, masterfully surprises in the narrative of the various floors. The artist treats alabaster brilliantly, sharpening its smooth surface with thin golden threads. 

The place of execution of the work can be recognized in the ever-changing Malines, a well-known area of ​​artistic processing of this precious material. A city in central-northern Belgium in the Antwerp region, this possession passed from the control of the bishopric of Liège, feudal lord of the Germanic empire, to Burgundian influence following the greater specification of textile manufacturing. Productive and commercial multipolarity was essentially followed by cultural multipolarity, clearly subject to the more or less direct influences of the new economic realities. 

Known in ancient times as Mellina or Mechelen, according to the Dutch name, the city was the capital of the Netherlands when Margaret of Austria, regent on behalf of her father Maximilian I Habsburg, proclaimed it as her city of residence. Later becoming the Catholic archiepiscopal seat, Malines shone for the riches acquired thanks to the double secular and religious interventions. Alabaster production reached its peak between the third quarter of the 1572th century and XNUMX, when the Spanish dominion secured the city walls in a clear victory and it seemed more appropriate for the city's masters to dedicate themselves to perfecting the textile industry with tapestries and carpets.  

Usually the small quadrangular scenes contained episodes from the life of Christ or scenes from the Old Testament. The intended destination for these panels could have been the large retables intended to accommodate different representations, as demonstrated by the altar of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, belonging to the third quarter of the 16th century and hosting, in addition to the panel with the Crucifixion, also the one with the transportation of Christ to the tomb. Often the frames surrounding the small panels, when intended for private sale, consisted of a few centimeters of pastille-worked wood, subsequently gilded, finely decorated to frame the main image like a jewel. The Saint Jerome in the Desert kept at the New Art Gallery in Walsall (West Midlands) is similar to the present one, however less highlighted than the present one. 

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