Mihaly Munkacsy (1844-1900) was a Hungarian painter. At the beginning of his career he mostly painted poor people and in 1869 he painted his first masterpiece “The last day of the condemned man” which destined him for stardom. Later he painted very famous biblical paintings including the Trilogy. Christ in front of Pilate – 1881. Golgotha – 1884. Ecce Homo – 1896.
I recently visited a smaller but more exciting exhibition of works by him. Paintings were from Imre Pakh’s collection. It was really interesting for me because I love his work and also because this exhibition was not about his monumental paintings (You can always see them in the Hungarian National Gallery or Museum Deri) but mostly never-seen sketches for his well-known works.
One of my favourite is “Christ in front of Pilate” (1881. oil on canvas, Museum Deri). You can see Christ is standing at the front of the prefect of Judaea. Though he is sitting on a raised throne, still not him but Christ seems to rule the space around him including the uncertain and frustrated Pilate. Interesting fact, that on one of the studies, Christ’s hands were tied at the back but the painter felt that would make him too vulnerable so decided to tie his hands at the front. And that gives the picture symbolic meaning beyond the biblical story, the truth is standing still surrounded by the angry mob representing cowardice and betrayal. I would like to emphasize the shouting youngster who is a complete opposite of Jesus with his violent gestures and distorted face. Only three of them (Christ, Pilate and the Youngster) wearing dominantly white clothes which give the image outstanding dynamism. Hope you enjoy this painting and desire to see more of Munkacsy’s work because he was a truly magnificent artist.
LaraDraw 