The Flagellation

Luca di Tomme, a Sienese painter active in the second half of the Trecento, depicted the Flagellation of Christ around 1365 as part of a Passion cycle, rendering the scene of Christ's scourging at the pillar that was a staple of Gothic devotional imagery. Luca worked in the tradition of the great Sienese masters Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers, maintaining the lyrical elegance and emotional expressiveness that characterized the Sienese school. This panel in the Rijksmuseum represents the continued vitality of Sienese painting in the post-plague decades.

Painted in tempera and gold on panel, the Flagellation scene is composed with the narrative clarity characteristic of Sienese Gothic painting, with Christ bound at the central column flanked by his tormentors. Luca di Tomme's technique features the delicate, refined line and luminous, jewel-toned palette inherited from the earlier Sienese masters.