Ecce homo

Ecce homo (/ˈɛksi ˈhoʊmoʊ/, Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈettʃe ˈomo], Classical Latin: [ˈɛkkɛ ˈhɔmoː]; "behold the man") are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of John, when he presents a scourged Jesus, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before His crucifixion (John 19:5). The original New Testament Greek: "ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος", romanized: "idoù ho ánthropos", is rendered by most English Bible translations, e.g. the Douay-Rheims Bible and the King James Version, as "behold the man".^[a] The scene has been widely depicted in Christian art.

This article is about the Biblical phrase and the subject in art. For other uses, see Ecce homo (disambiguation).

A scene of the ecce homo is a standard component of cycles illustrating the Passion and life of Christ in art. It follows the stories of the Flagellation of Christ, the crowning with thorns and the mocking of Jesus, the last two often being combined:^[b] The usual depiction shows Pilate and Jesus, a mocking crowd which may be rather large, and parts of the city of Jerusalem.

But, from the 15th century in the West, and much earlier in the art of the Eastern church, devotional pictures began to portray Jesus alone, in half or full figure with a purple robe, loincloth, crown of thorns and torture wounds, especially on his head, and later became referred to as images of the Ecce homo. Similar subjects but with the wounds of the crucifixion visible (Nail wounds on the limbs, spear wounds on the sides), are termed a Man of Sorrows (also Misericordia). If the instruments of the Passion are present, it may be called an Arma Christi. If Christ is sitting down (usually supporting himself with his hand on his thigh), it may be referred to it as Christ at rest or Pensive Christ. It is not always possible to distinguish these subjects.

now Frankfurt

Ecce Homo (Bosch, 1470s)

follower of Bosch, now Indianapolis and Philadelphia

Ecce Homo (Bosch, 1490s)

c. 1500, now Paris

Ecce homo (Mantegna)

c. 1605, Genoa

Ecce Homo (Caravaggio)

Ecce Homo (Caravaggio, Madrid)

c. 1612 Hermitage Museum

Ecce Homo (Rubens)

before 1532, Cologne

Ecce Homo (Luini)

1850, Essen

Ecce Homo (Daumier)

These are images of the narrative type, with other figures, rather than the devotional Man of Sorrows type.

ΙϹ ΧϹ Ό ΝΥΜΦΊΟϹ^[n]^[i]

Ecce Homo, Nuno Gonçalves, 15th century

Hieronymus Bosch, 1470s

Ecce Homo, Abraham Janssens, (1567–1632)

Correggio, 16th century

Tintoretto, 1546

Ecce Homo, by Titian (1490–1576)

Ecce Homo by Andrea Solario, c. 1506

Quentin Massys, c. 1520

Rubens, 1612

Jan Cossiers, c. 1620

Mateo Cerezo, 1650

Ecce Homo, by Lodovico Cardi called Cigoli

Ecce Homo, by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674)

Ecce Homo, by Elias Moskos, 1648

Ecce Homo, by Pedro de Mena, 17th century

The statue of Ecce Homo, revered in Brazil as the Good Jesus

Ecce Homo, by Pierre Mignard, (1690)

Ecce Homo, by Honoré Daumier, (1850)

Antonio Ciseri (1871)

Ecce Homo, by Adam Chmielowski, 1879–1881

Lovis Corinth, 1925

^[o]

Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is

^[p]

Ecce homo qui est faba

^[q]

Ecce Mono

(1823). "Behold the Man" . Meditations For Every Day In The Year. New York: Benziger Brothers.

Baxter, Roger

Prezzia, Paul Joseph (18 April 2019). . Crisis Magazine. The Civilized Reader column, with reference to Genesis 2:24 and Song of Solomon 4:1. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019. Christ speaks to us hardhearted men and women with these words: 'How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou!' (Song of Solomon 4:1) Beauty, in physical terms, is the way the heavenly bridegroom speaks of love. And if Christ seeks us for the beauty He Himself created in us, and in spite of our cold hearts, He is under the obligation set for suitors in Sacred Scripture: 'A man shall leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife.' (Genesis 2:24)