Tabula Magna: Disrobing of Jesus

Gabriel Angler's Tabula Magna depicting the Disrobing of Jesus, painted around 1445 and now in the Bavarian State Painting Collections, shows the moment before the Crucifixion when Roman soldiers strip Christ of his garments — a scene of humiliation and vulnerability that was given increasing prominence in late medieval Passion devotion. The Disrobing was central to the theology of kenosis — the self-emptying of divine power — that characterized late medieval mysticism, and its depiction in altarpieces invited viewers to contemplate Christ's total abandonment of earthly dignity for the sake of humanity's redemption.

Tempera and oil on panel. The scene is organized around the standing figure of Christ, stripped or in the process of being stripped by soldiers. The composition emphasizes Christ's physical exposure and vulnerability against the aggression of the surrounding soldiers.