The Soldiers Beat and Mock Jesus, Giotto, 1303-1305

Giotto, The Soldiers Beat and Mock Jesus

1303-1305
Fresco
Scrovegni Chapel, Padua

In Matthew 27:27-31 Pilate's soldiers beat and mock Jesus. Details from that account include the reed placed in his hand and the crown of thorns. Other details in the image appear to derive from Isaiah 50:6, "I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me." Thus we have the man striking Jesus on the back, the one on his right plucking his beard, and the one in red spitting in his face.

All that would represent the first stage of the indignities, in verses 28-29. The second, when the soldiers take the reed from him and beat him with it, is represented by the black man standing right of center.

Verse 27 says all this occurred in the presence of the entire cohort, which probably explains the bystanders on the right. But it is possible that the man in red in that group is Pilate arguing with the priests about Jesus' guilt. (See especially Luke 23:4.)

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Photographed at the chapel by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.