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The Flagellation
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Simon Bening
Flemish, Bruges, about 1525 - 1530
Tempera colors, gold paint, gold leaf, and ink on parchment
6 5/8 x 4 1/2 in.
MS. LUDWIG IX 19, FOL. 154V

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Stripped of his clothing, Christ stands bound to a marble column in the center of this miniature. Blood from the beating he has already endured covers his entire body and forms a pool at his feet. Simon Bening chose to depict the most dramatic moment possible: all four of the torturers swing back their whips at the same time, making the viewer anticipate the simultaneous strikes that Christ's already broken body will have to endure.