Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion and Jesus before Pilate

early 16th century

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 306

This carving of exquisite complexity was surely intended for prayer during Holy Week, when the full drama of the final days of Jesus’ life are traced. In the lower half of the bead, Pontius Pilate washes his hands of responsibility for the fate of Jesus. In a master stroke, the carver has made the stream of water stand free of the background. As if to remind us to look carefully, he shows a figure near the front poring over a text with the aid of magnifying glasses. Is the artist also hinting that magnification facilitated his own work? The carving warrants a careful look, for at the back Jesus is led away and then flogged.

Artwork Details

Title: Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion and Jesus before Pilate
Date: early 16th century
Culture: Netherlandish
Medium: Boxwood
Dimensions: Open: 4 7/8 × 3 3/4 × 1 1/4 in. (12.4 × 9.6 × 3.2 cm)
Closed: 2 1/2 × 2 3/8 × 2 3/16 in. (6.4 × 6.1 × 5.6 cm)
Classification: Sculpture-Miniature-Wood
Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number: 17.190.474a
Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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Half of a Prayer Bead with Jesus Carrying the Cross, Boxwood, Netherlandish — Half of a Prayer Bead with Jesus Carrying the Cross
Netherlandish
early 16th century

Prayer Bead with the Adoration of the Magi and the Crucifixion, Boxwood, Netherlandish — Prayer Bead with the Adoration of the Magi and the Crucifixion
Netherlandish
early 16th century

Half of a Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion, Boxwood, Netherlandish — Half of a Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion
Netherlandish
early 16th century

Mourning Woman, Walnut, polychromy and gilding, South Netherlandish — Mourning Woman
South Netherlandish
ca. 1480

Miniature Altarpiece with the Crucifixion, Boxwood, Netherlandish — Miniature Altarpiece with the Crucifixion
Netherlandish
early 16th century

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