I’ve always wanted to paint “Ecce Homo” (in English means “Behold The Man”). These are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of John, when he presents a scourged Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his Crucifixion.
I searched all over my studio for the right size canvas for it and found a 24″x30″ canvas. I prefer linen but I decided to go back to challenge myself and go back to my beginnings of painting on canvas. It takes more paint to cover the rough surface but it will be well worth it. The robe will not be in scarlet but purple to signify his royalty. There will be a small halo or just an outline of soft naples yellow around his head to signify his divinity. The background is still up in the air but I want to keep it classic and perhaps stick with pillars. The internal deadline I have is Holy Week which falls on the week of March 29th this year.
As always, the last thing I will paint on this will be the crown of thorns and the blood. It is the most painful part of the process because I feel it.