Christ and the Sinner
Max Beckmann, 1917
Image not available: work still under copyright
Painted in 1917, this work reworks the scene from the Gospel of John in which Jesus stops a crowd from stoning a woman caught in adultery. Beckmann places Christ at the centre, while the woman kneels at his feet, her eyes shut and her hands folded, a red veil framing her figure. Around them an angry mob presses in, and among the figures are soldiers who have no place in the biblical account; many critics read them as a comment on war. The emotional force of the picture lies largely in the hands: Christ's long, measured hand shields the woman while others clench, point and strike at the edges of the scene. The influence of Matthias Grünewald is evident in this heightened gestural language. Made soon after Beckmann's experiences in the First World War, and among the first works he painted after his discharge, it marks a shift in his style. The Kunsthalle Mannheim acquired it in 1919, and the Nazi regime later included it in its exhibition of so-called degenerate art.
- Painter
- Max Beckmann
- Date
- 1917
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 149 × 127 cm
- Museum
- "degenerate art" collection
- Genre
- religious art