Pontius Pilate Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Visual art=== ====Late antique and early medieval art==== [[File:Court of Pilates - Sant'Apollinare Nuovo - Ravenna 2016.jpg|thumb|Mosaic of Christ before Pilate, [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo]] in [[Ravenna]], early sixth century. Pilate washes his hands in a bowl held by a figure on the right.]] Pilate is one of the most important figures in [[Early Christian art and architecture|early Christian art]]; he is often given greater prominence than Jesus himself.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=2}} He is, however, entirely absent from the earliest Christian art; all images postdate the emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] and can be classified as early [[Byzantine art]].{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=67}} Pilate first appears in art on a Christian [[sarcophagus]] in 330 CE; in the earliest depictions he is shown washing his hands without Jesus being present.{{sfn|Kirschbaum|1971|p=436}} In later images he is typically shown washing his hands of guilt in Jesus' presence.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=52}} 44 depictions of Pilate predate the sixth century and are found on ivory, in mosaics, in manuscripts as well as on sarcophagi.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=53}} Pilate's iconography as a seated Roman judge derives from depictions of the Roman emperor, causing him to take on various attributes of an emperor or king, including the raised seat and clothing.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=57–60}} [[File:Magdeburger Reliefs Verhör Geisselung.jpg|thumb|left|Panel from the [[Magdeburg Ivories]] depicting Pilate at the [[Flagellation of Christ]], German, tenth century]] The older Byzantine model of depicting Pilate washing his hands continues to appear on artwork into the tenth century;{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=85}} beginning in the seventh century, however, a new iconography of Pilate also emerges, which does not always show him washing his hands, includes him in additional scenes, and is based on contemporary medieval rather than Roman models.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=85}} The majority of depictions from this time period come from France or Germany, belonging to [[Carolingian art|Carolingian]] or later [[Ottonian art]],{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=144}} and are mostly on ivory, with some in frescoes, but no longer on sculpture except in Ireland.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=86, 93–95, 111–116}} New images of Pilate that appear in this period include depictions of the [[Ecce homo]], Pilate's presentation of the scourged Jesus to the crowd in [[s:Bible (American Standard)/John#19:5|John 19:5]],{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=98–100}} as well as scenes deriving from the apocryphal ''[[Acts of Pilate]]''.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=86}} Pilate also comes to feature in scenes such as the [[Flagellation of Christ]], where he is not mentioned in the Bible.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=92}} [[File:Bernwardstür (28).JPG|thumb|Christ before Pilate on the [[Hildesheim cathedral doors]] (1015). A devil whispers in Pilate's ear as he judges Jesus.]] The eleventh century sees Pilate iconography spread from France and Germany to Great Britain and further into the eastern Mediterranean.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=144}} Images of Pilate are found on new materials such as metal, while he appeared less frequently on ivory, and continues to be a frequent subject of gospel and psalter manuscript illuminations.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=144}} Depictions continue to be greatly influenced by the ''Acts of Pilate'', and the number of situations in which Pilate is depicted also increases.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=144}} From the eleventh century onward, Pilate is frequently represented as a Jewish king, wearing a beard and a [[Jewish hat]].{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=146–151}} In many depictions he is no longer depicted washing his hands, or is depicted washing his hands but not in the presence of Jesus, or else he is depicted in passion scenes in which the Bible does not mention him.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=151–153}} Despite being venerated as a saint by the [[Coptic Church|Coptic]] and [[Ethiopian Church]]es, very few images of Pilate exist in these traditions from any time period.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=415}} ====High and late medieval and renaissance art==== [[File:Christ before Pilate Bible moralisee Oxford-Paris-London BNF Lat11560 f183v.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|A depiction of Christ before Pilate, from a thirteenth-century [[Bible moralisée]]]] In the thirteenth century, depictions of the events of Christ's passion came to dominate all visual art forms—these depictions of the "Passion cycle" do not always include Pilate, but they often do so; when he is included, he is often given stereotyped Jewish features.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=227–228}} One of the earliest examples of Pilate rendered as a Jew is from the eleventh century on the [[Bernward Doors|Hildesheim cathedral doors]] (see image, above right). This is the first known usage of the motif of Pilate being influenced and corrupted by the Devil in Medieval Art. Pilate is typically represented in fourteen different scenes from his life;{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=238}} however, more than half of all thirteenth-century representations of Pilate show the trial of Jesus.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=255}} Pilate also comes to be frequently depicted as present at the crucifixion, by the fifteenth century being a standard element of crucifixion artwork.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=240–243}} While many images still draw from the ''Acts of Pilate'', the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' of [[Jacobus de Voragine]] is the primary source for depictions of Pilate from the second half of the thirteenth century onward.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=234–235}} Pilate now frequently appears in illuminations for [[Book of hours|books of hours]],{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=228–232, 238}} as well as in the richly illuminated [[Bible moralisée|''Bibles moralisées'']], which include many biographical scenes adopted from the legendary material, although Pilate's washing of hands remains the most frequently depicted scene.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=245–249}} In the {{lang|fr|Bible moralisée|italics=yes}}, Pilate is generally depicted as a Jew.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=252}} In many other images, however, he is depicted as a king or with a mixture of attributes of a Jew and a king.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=293}} [[File:Obilman Ecce Homo.jpg|thumb|''Ecce Homo'' from the Legnica Polyptych by Nikolaus Obilman, [[Silesia]], 1466 CE. Pilate stands beside Christ in a [[Jewish hat]] and golden robes.]] The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries see fewer depictions of Pilate, although he generally appears in cycles of artwork on the passion. He is sometimes replaced by Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas in the trial scene.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=296–297}} Depictions of Pilate in this period are mostly found in private devotional settings such as on ivory or in books; he is also a major subject in a number of panel-paintings, mostly German, and frescoes, mostly Scandinavian.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=303}} The most frequent scene to include Pilate is his washing of his hands; Pilate is typically portrayed similarly to the high priests as an old, bearded man, often wearing a Jewish hat but sometimes a crown, and typically carrying a scepter.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=297}} Images of Pilate were especially popular in Italy, where, however, he was almost always portrayed as a Roman,{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=303–304}} and often appears in the new medium of large-scale church paintings.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=305}} Pilate continued to be represented in various manuscript picture bibles and devotional works as well, often with innovative iconography, sometimes depicting scenes from the Pilate legends.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=312–321}} Many, mostly German, engravings and woodcuts of Pilate were created in the fifteenth century.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=321–323}} Images of Pilate were printed in the ''[[Biblia pauperum]]'' ("Bibles of the Poor"), picture bibles focusing on the life of Christ, as well as the ''[[Speculum Humanae Salvationis]]'' ("Mirror of Human Salvation"), which continued to be printed into the sixteenth century.{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|pp=308–311}} ====Post-medieval art==== [[File:What-is-truth02.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nikolai Ge]], ''What is truth?'', 1890]] In the [[modern period]], depictions of Pilate become less frequent, though occasional depictions are still made of his encounter with Jesus.{{sfn|Kirschbaum|1971|p=438}} In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Pilate was frequently dressed as an Arab, wearing a turban, long robes, and a long beard, given the same characteristics as the Jews. Notable paintings of this era include [[Tintoretto]]'s ''Christ before Pilate'' (1566/67 CE), in which Pilate is given the forehead of a philosopher, and [[Gerrit van Honthorst]]'s 1617 ''Christ before Pilate'', which was later recatalogued as ''Christ before the High Priest'' due to Pilate's Jewish appearance.{{sfn|Wroe|1999|p=38}} Following this longer period in which few depictions of Pilate were made, the increased religiosity of the mid-nineteenth century caused a slew of new depictions of Pontius Pilate to be created, now depicted as a Roman.{{sfn|Wroe|1999|p=38}} In 1830, [[J. M. W. Turner]] painted ''Pilate Washing His Hands'', in which the governor himself is not visible, but rather only the back of his chair,{{sfn|Wroe|1999|p=185}} with lamenting women in the foreground. One famous nineteenth-century painting of Pilate is ''Christ before Pilate'' (1881) by Hungarian painter [[Mihály Munkácsy]]: the work brought Munkácsy great fame and celebrity in his lifetime, making his reputation and being popular in the United States in particular, where the painting was purchased.{{sfn|Morowitz|2009|pp=184–186}} In 1896, Munkácsy painted a second painting featuring Christ and Pilate, ''Ecce homo'', which however was never exhibited in the United States; both paintings portray Jesus's fate as in the hands of the crowd rather than Pilate.{{sfn|Morowitz|2009|p=191}} The "most famous of nineteenth-century pictures"{{sfn|Wroe|1999|p=182}} of Pilate is ''What is truth?'' ({{Lang|ru|"Что есть истина?"|italics=yes}}) by the Russian painter [[Nikolai Ge]], which was completed in 1890; the painting was banned from exhibition in Russia in part because the figure of Pilate was identified as representing the [[tsarist]] authorities.{{sfn|Wroe|1999|pp=182–185}} In 1893, Ge painted another painting, ''Golgotha'', in which Pilate is represented only by his commanding hand, sentencing Jesus to death.{{sfn|Wroe|1999|p=185}} The [[Scala sancta]], supposedly the staircase from Pilate's praetorium, now located in Rome, is flanked by a life-sized sculpture of Christ and Pilate in the ''Ecce homo'' scene made in the nineteenth century by the Italian sculptor [[Ignazio Jacometti]].{{sfn|Hourihane|2009|p=392}} [[File:Pasión-Ecce_Homo.jpg|thumb|right|''Ecce Homo'' by [[Josep Maria Subirachs|Subirachs]] from [[Sagrada Familia|Basilica of the Sagrada Familia]] in Barcelona.]] The image of Pilate condemning Jesus to death is commonly encountered today as the first scene of the [[Stations of the Cross]], first found in [[Franciscan]] [[Catholic church]]es in the seventeenth century and found in almost all Catholic churches since the nineteenth century.{{sfn|MacAdam|2001|p=90}}{{sfn|MacAdam|2017|pp=138–139}}<ref>''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1907). s.v. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15569a.htm "The Way of the Cross"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327091210/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15569a.htm |date=27 March 2019 }}.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page