Christ Crowned with Thorns by Botticelli

Christ Crowned with Thorns by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1500, is a tempera painting with gold leaf on wood of the crucified Christ in robes with crown of thorns and golden halo, holding his hands aloft and bearing the wounds of crucifixion. This small, religious icon is halfway between the Gothic manner of the mediaeval era and the classically modelled forms of the High Renaissance. Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was a Florentine painter of the of the early Italian Renaissance who apprenticed under the master Filippo Lippi. With strong Gothic influences, the mature work of Botticelli reflected a study of antique classical sculpture and was noted for its linear grace and rhythm, flattened relief-like forms with strong contours, and subtle colouring. The complexity of meanings in Botticelli’s compositions, from sources drawn from classical antiquity, mythology and philosophy, enthraled scholars for centuries.