Geseling van Christus before 1604

This is Zacharias Dolendo’s engraving of The Flagellation of Christ, made in the Netherlands around 1600. The scene depicts Christ tied to a column being whipped, while Roman soldiers and Jewish officials look on. The image is a commentary on the fraught relationship between religious and political authority in the Netherlands at that time. Dolendo made this engraving during the early years of the Dutch Revolt. The revolt was against the rule of Catholic Spain. This conflict had deep roots in religious differences, economic grievances, and the desire for political autonomy. The meaning of this image would therefore have been highly charged. Was it a statement against the oppression of the Catholic Spanish? Or did it carry an anti-semitic message? Historians rely on sources such as religious pamphlets, political tracts, and economic data to better understand the meaning of images like this. The true meaning of such images is always contingent on the social and institutional contexts in which they are made.