Accession Number
1960.179
Medium
pen and black ink, black chalk, and brush and gray wash, with brush and brown wash; squared in graphite; framing lines in black chalk and pen and black ink
Dimensions
Image: 19.5 x 26.1 cm (7 11/16 x 10 1/4 in.); Sheet: 20 x 27.1 cm (7 7/8 x 10 11/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
James Parmelee Fund
Tags
Drawing Baroque (1600–1750) Ink Graphite & Pencil Italian
Background & Context
Background Story
Gaspare Diziani (1689-1767) was a Venetian painter known for the light, decorative manner that makes him one of the most accomplished painters of the late Venetian Rococo. Flagellation of Christ from c. 1750-55 depicts the biblical episode in which Christ is whipped before his crucifixion in the light, decorative manner that distinguishes Diziani's best religious paintings from the more severe work of his contemporaries. The c. 1750-55 date places this in Diziani's mature period, when he was producing the light, decorative religious paintings that are his most accomplished works in the late Venetian Rococo tradition.
Cultural Impact
Flagellation of Christ is important in the context of Venetian painting because it demonstrates the light, decorative manner that Diziani brought to religious subjects in the late Venetian Rococo. Diziani's treatment of a severe religious subject in a light, decorative manner shows how the Venetian Rococo tradition handled even the most dramatic biblical episodes with grace and decorative skill, and the painting represents the late Venetian Rococo at its most accomplished.
Why It Matters
Flagellation of Christ is Diziani's light Venetian Rococo: a severe biblical episode rendered in the graceful, decorative manner that distinguishes the late Venetian Rococo tradition. The c. 1750-55 painting shows how even the most dramatic religious subjects were handled with decorative skill in 18th-century Venice.
