Christ among the Doctors

Abraham Hondius' Christ among the Doctors from 1668 depicts the twelve-year-old Jesus astonishing the Temple scholars with his wisdom, a subject that allowed the artist to display his skill in painting animated, varied figure types. Hondius, a Rotterdam-born painter who settled in London, was better known for animal and hunting scenes, making this ambitious religious composition an unusual subject in his oeuvre.

The oil-on-wood panel demonstrates Hondius' vigorous, somewhat coarse brushwork applied to a crowded multi-figure composition. The dramatic lighting concentrating on Christ's figure amid the surrounding scholars shows the influence of Dutch Caravaggism on Rotterdam painters.