Ecce Homo, 15th/16th century

A polychrome wooden half-length sculpture. This work, rendered with extreme psychological realism, depicts Christ at the moment when, according to the Gospel of John, Pontius Pilate, governor of Rome, shows Christ to the crowd, uttering the famous phrase "Ecce Homo." The sculpture, crafted from wood, technically according to early medieval practice, has been emptied of its internal core to prevent cracks and fissures from appearing over time. The work is very simple in its sculptural structure and is entirely focused on representation, especially in the face, slightly inclined downward, and in the exceptional construction of the bound hands. The intense pathos is expressed by the face, which is turned toward the viewer. It seems to evoke and heighten the dramatic power, as if the crowd standing before it at the moment Pilate was about to deliver his judgment were standing before the work. Furthermore, the bound hands seem to indicate Christ's condition; in fact, the right hand has the index finger pointing towards itself, as if to urge us to observe the state to which He has been reduced in order to save all humanity. These attitudes are the basic compositional moments of this sculpture, which thus fulfills the maximum focus of psychological realism, regardless of the volumes and forms, which are nevertheless optimal. ASOR studio