Scourging of Christ

The reliefs of the altar from Wkryujście were made of hard oak wood, which is extremely difficult to carve. Their size and method of carving required the preparation of panels from large, thick solid wood blocks, which were glued together. The deep picking and hollowing of the material made it possible to shape the plastic forms, with the distance of the depicted elements in the space of the composition differentiating the respective volume. The foreground representations are carved in an almost three-dimensional manner. Those in the distance are developed in a more plane way. It gives the representations a deep chiaroscuro modelling, enhancing the expression of the work. A thin layer of wood was left for the background parts. As the result of the Thirty Years' War and the church's reconstruction in the 18th century, the panels were stripped of their cabinets and gradually deteriorated. Vertical cracks along the bonding points of the blocks are visible on all the boards. In many places, the light background is broken. Abrasions and defects of the polychrome and elements additionally fixed to the panels, such as crosses in the Crucifixion scene, were probably caused by storing the reliefs for many years one by one in the church vestibule. The slab with the Scourging scene suffered considerable damage. However, the fortunately preserved fragments allow appreciation of the high artistic value of the sculpture inspired by Martin Schongauer's copper engraving. Attention is primarily drawn to the naturalistically shaped nude of the figure of Jesus, correct in terms of proportions and anatomical details, and the skilful rendering of the softness of the pale-skinned body, bending under the rope on which it is suspended so that it does not slip when the punishment is administered; building the mood of the performance which, despite the dramatic subject matter, expresses concentration, calmness and composure; achieving a stern expression of the torturer's coarse face and the gesture of tugging at his hair; the sculptural elaboration of the costume details of his outfit and the reference to the architectural space suggested by the drawing of the wall in the background.

Kinga Krasnodębska