_Velazquez_ (Spanish; 1599-1660). _See 197._
An intensely dramatic rendering of the central lesson of Christianity.
The scene depicted is an episode from the Passion between the scourging
and the crowning with thorns--a scene not given in the Gospels, and
invented to produce a more vivid effect than representations of
familiar scenes. The absence of all decorative accessories concentrates
the attention at once on the figure of the Divine sufferer--bound by
the wrists to the column. His hands are swollen and blackened by the
cords; the blood has trickled down the shoulder--so terrible was the
punishment--and the scourges and rod have been flung contemptuously
at his feet. Yet abnegation of self and Divine compassion are stamped
indelibly on his countenance, as he turns his head to the child who
is kneeling in adoration. The guardian angel behind bids the child
approach the Redeemer in prayer (hence the alternative title that has
been given to the picture, "The Institution of Prayer"). From the
wise and prudent the lessons of Christianity are often hidden, but
Christ himself here reveals them unto babes. "He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement
of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." A
thin white line, a ray, reaches from the position of the heart to the
Saviour's ear--
To see sad sights moves more than hear them told,
For then the _heart_ interprets to the _ear_
The heavy motion that it doth behold.
The angel is a portrait (a preparatory study from a model is included
amongst the collection of drawings made by Cean Bermudez). The
downcast eye, the slightly pouting lips, as if about to weep, betray
the harrowing expression of the moment. This expression shows fine
invention, for it might have been more natural for the eye to follow
the hand directing the child's attention to the figure. But the angel
fears himself to look, lest he be overcome with grief. The tone of
the picture is in keeping with its theme. There probably exists no
other painting executed in such a decidedly gray, blackish-gray tone,
although it is by no means colourless, as seen in the orange-brown and
dull crimson of the angel's costume, which are peculiar to Velazquez.
It is as if, after the terrible event that has here taken place,
mourning Nature had strewn the scene with a fine shower of ashes, as
after some tremendous volcanic outburst (Justi's _Velazquez and his
Times_, pp. 241-248).