Ecce Homo
Francesco Fracanzano
1647
Oil on canvas
During my visit at the museum, I came across a painting that caught my attention and I found myself looking at it for quite some time. The painting was entitled “ecce homo”. This is a Latin term used by Pontius Pilot during the crowning of the thorns and later crucifixion of Christ. This painting had dark effects. The painting was large and Jesus as well as two others appear large and more up close, and there is a crowd of people in the background appearing smaller than Christ. There are looks of distress and outrage amongst the crowd in the background. The people in the portrait are dressed in garments that are simple, delicate, and soft colors. They seem to be crying out for help. Their faces are full of emotion and this is intriguing and makes you wonder what exactly is going on and how this event plays such a huge role in society. The portrait overall appeals a lot to those whom view it emotions. Also, in the background there are others carrying crosses. You can see the pain, hardships, and suffering they are experiencing. The weight of their crosses are heavy and too much for their weak bodies to handle. These individuals are hunched over, almost nude, and distressed. As seen by the simple clothing options, one can easily predict that this portrait is of older times, and in particular from a religious stand point, when Jesus lived. Focusing in on the larger portion of the portrait, I took a good look at the depiction of Christ. The messiah’s face looks like he has fought a long battle already, and is preparing himself to take on an even longer one. Christ’s legs are scrawny, scratched, and he looks abused. Displayed on top of his head is a crown of thorns. Jesus’s eyes are saddened, tired, and distressed. All of this creates an overall sorrowful mood. The people on the sides of Jesus seem to not notice or care about his suffering. I interpreted them as giving off an arrogant vibe. Jesus is stripped of his garments and his bones are poking through his very unhealthy body. No bright colors are used in this illustration. This creates a somber, bitter, cold, dark atmosphere.
The situation that is being created is one of religious nature. You can tell by looking at the picture that at that time there were those that were strong supporters of Christ and those that completely opposed to the teachings of him. As you can tell, there are expressions of sorrow and others that show no emotional attachment and don’t really care about the harsh act that is about to occur. You can definitely interpret that people were very harsh and made others (Jesus) suffer for things that went against THEIR ways, beliefs, or religions. Clearly people didn’t believe that this was the son of God so a lot of tension was created. This belongs to the time when Jesus obviously lived which was a very long time ago. The piece I observed clearly communicates a message about that particular moment in time. It tells us how much injustice there was toward Christ and his followers and how intolerable people were of each other’s religions. This appeals to the socialness of society and tolerance. It illustrates the need for us to accept others, become more tolerable and treat others better and with more respect and understanding. The social comment I would make is that people at this time clearly saw things however they wanted to see them and were strict, set in their ways, and harsh. They crucified an innocent man just because of his teachings and beliefs. He did no harm to society and there was no need to treat him this way.
This work truly appeals to the emotional side of those that view it. One can easily put themselves into Jesus’s shoes and immediately feel how much pain, and suffering he has experienced. Beside from that, they can easily put themselves into the crowd and feel that they must watch this act of injustice and feel distressed and full of sorrow. This is a hard painting to look at because it really makes you feel just awful. How cruel are people? Clearly they were able to crucify a man who hasn’t even done any harm to society. This appeals a lot to my emotions. It makes me wish there was something I could do, I literally feel the pain of Christ just by looking at the tired, distressed expression on his face. I feel like I should be more tolerable of people and make sure things like this don’t happen. It encourages me to do all I can to prevent this. It also makes me feel sick to my stomach. It is gross how terribly some people can treat each other and feel no remorse about it whatsoever.
Therefore, this painting connects a lot to my values because I am a Catholic and I believe in Christ. I go to mass every Sunday and went to a Catholic elementary school, so having been exposed to the teachings of Christ I know a lot about this moment in time. It connects to my religious beliefs and I feel that it was a pure act of injustice.
The artist (Francesco Fracanzano) creates credibility through his collection of religious illustrations. He has a variety of paintings of several saints, and religious actions. (For an example: St. Paul the Apostle, The Procession of Bacchus, and St. Peter) He is from Italy which was a very religious society at the time and all of his works focus on religion. His other painting also appeal to the emotions of people and he also painted a lot during the movement of Renewal in Naples. By having lots of other religious paintings, we can confirm that his paintings are credible especially considering the time frame when his paintings were created (l600s).
The claim that this piece is making is aimed toward two different perspectives. The first thought is that it is aimed toward an audience that follows and supports Christ. In this audience the painter is claiming that Jesus is our savior and died for us on the cross and we are reminded of all of his pain and suffering he encountered for us because he loves us. On the other side, there is an audience of non supporters. The claim the artists is trying to make here is that they need to become more tolerable toward each other so acts of injustice aren’t performed as much. These claims seem very persuasive to me because I feel a message being sent by looking at the illustration. I feel the cry out for toleration and I feel the constant reminder that Jesus gave his life for us. I am persuaded by the detailed expressions on Christ’s face and those of sorrow in the crowd. How distressed and tired the messiah looks deeply upsets me and I am persuaded of these claims by the emotional attachment I felt from the work.
My overall experience at the Palmer was great! I had a great time and I don’t even like museums! I found a lot of the sculptures, paintings, and structures fascinating. I saw a lot of interesting things that stuck out to me. The shoe formation (Harlem Rose) was really interesting to me. I thought it was so cool how they arranged all of the shoes together and communicated a message of the hardships experienced at that time. You can see how worn out the shoes were. I also found the tea pots from the Qing Dynasty interesting and was looking at them for a while. I thought they were beautiful. This was my first time at the museum and while there is indeed so much to see and do at Penn State I would like to go back and spend more time in here when I finally do get the time, because I feel like I can spend a day in there.
about artist info from:
http://www.masterart.com/PortalDefault.aspx?tabid=53&dealerId=203&objectID=16963
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