Jesus Mocked by the Soldiers

1865

Édouard Manet
French, 1832–1883

For this monumental painting, Édouard Manet depicted Jesus Christ at the end of his life, beaten and awaiting crucifixion. He wears a crown of thorns that mocks him as “King of the Jews,” while the guards hand him a reed “scepter” and drape him in a purple cloak. Manet, who painted very few religious subjects, transformed this sacred narrative into a gritty drama that marries realism with theatricality. Shown without a halo, Jesus glows against the dark background. Is he a holy being emanating divine light or a real man posing under a studio spotlight? The painting caused a scandal in its own time for precisely this ambiguity.

Status: On View, Gallery 222
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Édouard Manet
Title: Jesus Mocked by the Soldiers
Place: France (Artist's nationality)
Date: 1865
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Inscribed at lower right: Manet
Dimensions: 190.8 × 148.3 cm (74 7/8 × 58 3/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of James Deering
Reference Number: 1925.703
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/16499/manifest.json

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“Manet, Cat. 5, Jesus Mocked by the Soldiers,” in Manet Paintings and Works on Paper at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2017), https://publications.artic.edu/manet/reader/manetart/section/140020.

Paris, Salon, 1865, cat. 1427
Paris, Pavillon de l’Alma, Manet Exposition Particuliére, 1867, cat. 6.
New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, Exposition of Paintings by Edouard Manet, March 1895, cat. 9.
New York, Albright Art Gallery, French Impressionists Exhibition, 1907.
The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1933, cat. 327, pl. 56.
The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1934, cat. 247.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Manet and Renoir, November 1933–January 1934.
Baltimore Museum of Art, A Survey of French Painting, November 23, 1934–January 1, 1935, cat. 23 (ill.).
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Manet, November 3-December 11, 1966, cat. 71 (ill.), traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago, January 13-Februry 19, 1967.
Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Manet: 1832–1883, April 22–August 1, 1983, cat. 87 (ill.); traveled to New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 10–November 27, 1983.
Tokyo, Isetan Museum of Art, Edouard Manet, June 26-July 29, 1986, cat. 7 (ill.); traveled to Fukuoka Art Museum, August 2-31, 1986 and Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, September 9-October 12, 1986.
Madrid, Museo National del Prado, Manet en el Prado, October 14, 2003-January 11, 2004, cat. 66 (ill.).
Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Manet (1832–1883) and Venice, April 24 – August 18, 2013, cat. 30

Estate of the artist, Paris, 1883 [the inventory lists the painting as no. 17 as Le Christ insulté par les soldats]; by descent to Léon Leenhoff, Paris, 1883; sold to Boussod et Valadon, Paris, May 31, 1893, for 3,500 francs [this and the following per dealer’s stock book 13, no. 23074, as Les Christ insulté par les Soldats, published online at http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/digital_collections/goupil_cie/books.html]; sold to Jean-Baptiste Faure (d. 1914), Paris, April 14, 1894, for 8,000 francs; partially sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, April 17, 1894 [per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book (no. 3006); copy of archival reference in curatorial object file]; partially transferred from Durand-Ruel, Paris, to Durand-Ruel, New York, October 23, 1911 [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock books (no. 3461, as Ecce homo, le Christ insulté par les soldats, 1865); copy of archival reference in curatorial object file]; sold to James Deering (d. 1925), Chicago, October 23, 1911, for $44,000; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1925.

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