“This powerful etching uses dramatic light and shadow to depict the flagellation of Christ, drawing you into a scene of intense suffering and emotional depth. It's a striking example of 18th-century religious printmaking.”
In this dramatic etching, Christ stands bound to a column, his body illuminated against a dark, shadowy background as he endures the flagellation. Two figures, their faces obscured in shadow or turned away, raise whips, poised to strike. The scene is rendered with a stark contrast between light and dark, a technique known as chiaroscuro, which intensifies the emotional impact of the moment. The brown ink and aquatint medium lend a warm, almost sepia tone to the print, evoking a sense of age and solemnity. This work, created around 1760, captures the raw emotion and suffering central to the narrative, drawing the viewer into the sacred drama. The artist, Stefano Mulinari, was active in the latter half of the 18th century, and his work often explored religious themes.
- Artist
- Stefano Mulinari
- Date
- 1760
- Medium
- Etching and aquatint in brown ink
- Location
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Dimensions
- Sheet (Trimmed): 14 7/16 × 15 1/4 in. (36.7 × 38.7 cm)
- Collection
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
What to Notice
Five details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The way Christ's body glows, almost unnaturally, against the dark setting.
The blurred, indistinct faces of the flagellators, adding to their menacing anonymity.
The texture created by the aquatint, giving a painterly depth to the shadows.
The ropes binding Christ, taut and visible against the column.
1 more detail is waiting.
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Stefano Mulinari
1741–1790Italian engraver who transformed devotional scenes into intimate etchings with aquatint and colored washes.
Further Works by Mulinari
Madonna and Child with Saints Peter and Paul
1750 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Saint Jerome in Penitence
1750 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Winged Figure
1750 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Christ standing before an entrance to a city surrounded by apostles addressing a group of men at right
1756 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Descent of the Holy Ghost
1760 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Saint John the Baptist with a lamb
1766 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
More works to explore
Beyond Mulinari: works from the same years.
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Head of a Child
Jacques-Louis David · 1768 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Portrait of Madame Anne-Jeanne Cassanéa de Mondonville, née Boucon (1708-1780)
Maurice Quentin de Latour · 1752 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Design for a Lampas Silk with a Triumphal Chariot on a Cloud
Philippe de la Salle · 1765 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Thomas Hurnard (1711/1712–1753), Mayor of Norwich (1752)
John Theodore Heins · 1754 · Norfolk Museums Collections
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Portrait of a Lady
John Smart of Ipswich · 1773 · Yale Center for British Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Medal cabinet
William Vile · 1760 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Hot milk jug
Höchst Manufactory · 1770 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Pair of Side Chairs
Artist Unknown - The Mercat Cross, Aberdeen · 1770 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1740s–1770s
John Jehu, L'Inghilterra
James Bretherton · 1772 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
A young girl walks towards the left with one infant on her shoulder and holding another small child's hand, while two children walk at right with a torch and a basket
Luca Cambiaso · 1775 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Seated couple
Höchster Porzellan-Manufaktur · 1760 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1740s–1770s
Landscape
William Wooller · 1763 · Cleveland Museum of Art
