The artwork “Flagellation of Christ,” created by the artist Caravaggio around 1607, is an oil painting on canvas. Measuring 390 x 260 cm, this masterpiece belongs to the Baroque period and utilizes the tenebrism technique. The genre of this piece is religious painting, and it is housed at the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples, Italy.
The artwork portrays the dramatic and harrowing scene of the flagellation of Jesus Christ. Central to the composition is Christ, who is bound to a column, his body exposed and illuminated by a stark source of light. He is surrounded by three muscular figures whose expressions and actions convey a sense of violence and intensity. The darkness enshrouding the figures heightens the emotional gravity of the scene, a hallmark of Caravaggio’s tenebrist style, which emphasizes the interplay between light and shadow to evoke a profound spiritual and emotional response. The gripping realism and emotional depth captured in this artwork reflect the Baroque era’s focus on dramatic intensity and human emotion.