DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48462#0041
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE EARLY ICONOGRAPHY
OE THE CROWNING WITH THORNS
by Knut Berg
The Crowning with Thorns is described in three of the Gospels, Matthew 27, 27-32, Mark 15, 16-21 and
John 19, 2—5. The description of the Crowning itself is practically identical in all the three Gospels.
After Christ had been interrogated by Pilate, the soldiers took Him with them into the Praetorium where
they made Him a Crown of Thorns, put on Him a purple robe and gave Him a reed in His right hand.
After this they mocked Him and salutedHim: Ave rex Judaeorum. According to Matthew and Mark He
was then dressed in His own clothes and taken out to be crucified. In John the description is more exten-
ded. After the crowning Pilate takes Christ, wearing the Crown and the robe out to the assembled Jews
and says Ecce Homo and declares he can find no sin in Him, but the Jews demanded His crucifixion. Pilate
then interrogates Him a second time, after which he delivers Christ to the Jews to be crucified.
The earliest representation of the Crowning with Thorns is found on a Passion sarcophagus from the
catacomb of Domitilla, now no. 171 in the Lateran Museum (fig. 17). The sarcophagus can be dated to
the middle of the fourth Century1. The front of the sarcophagus is divided into five fields by columns.
Around the Crux Invicta in the central field are four scenes from the Passion of Christ: 1. Pilate
washing his hands; 2. Christ being led to Pilate; 3. The Crowning with Thorns, and 4. Simon car-
rying the Cross.
The coronation scene is not a direct illustration of any of the Gospel’s descriptions of the event. The
youthful Christ holding a bookroll is standing slightly turned to the right, and a soldier behind Him to the
left is holding the Crown above His head. There is no indication of any derision, and Christ does not wear
any of the other attributes of the scene mentioned in the Gospels, i. e. the robe and the reed, and the
Crown itself in no way resembles a Crown of Thorns.
It has offen been pointed out that the iconography of the scene closely follows a well known theme in
Imperial iconography, that of a figure standing behind the Emperor holding a laurel wreath above his
head2. The motif is used in different Connections, as in Apotheosises of the Emperor3, in Adventus scenes4,
in triumphal processions5 etc., but the meaning of the act is always the same, it signifies the Emperor
as Triumphator and Invictus, receiving his Laurea Triumphales.
It is in the same sense that the Crowning with Thorns on the Passion sarcophagus must be interpreted.
Even though the sequence of the scenes on the sarcophagus leaves no doubt as to the identification of
the scene as representing the Crowning with Thorns, it is here not represented in its historical sense as
representing the humiliation and suffering of Christ. The Crowning with Thorns has become a symbol of
the Triumph of Christ, and like the Emperor after his victories He receives His Laurea Triumphalis.
Michels6 has shown that the Interpretation of the Crowning with Thorns as a symbolic act designating
Christ as Triumpjhator also was common in Contemporary theological literature. Nowhere perhaps do we
find this idea better expressed than in a homily by Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315-366): “. . . and also they
put on him a purple robe; although it was to ridicule, it was a prophetic act, because He really was
Basileus. They did it to scorn, but anyhow they did it, and that become a symbol of His imperial dignity.
Although it was a wreath of thorns, it was a wreath, and it was braided by soldiers, because the Emperors
were proclaimed by soldiers”7.
The triumphal aspect of the Crowning with Thorns could not be expressed more explicitly than on the
Lateran sarcophagus. But this is not a unique case; in all the representations of the motif, until the end
1 F. Gerke, Christus in der spätantiken Plastik, Berlin 1940, p. 37; M. Lawrence, Columnar Sarcophaghi in the Latin West,
Art Bulletin, XIV, 1932, p. 139f.
2 Gerke, op. eit., p. 36; K. Baus, Der Kranz in Antike und Christentum, Theophania, II, Bonn 1940, p. 207; K. Wessel,
Christus Rex, Kaiserkult und Christusbild, Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1953, col. 127ff.
3 Augustus-Cameo in Vienna. F. Eichler and E. Kris, Die Kameen im Kunsthistorischen Museum. Beschreibender Katalog,
Wien 1927, no. 7, p. 52ff., pl. 4.
4 For examples see E. H. Kantorowicz, The “Kings Advent”, Art Bulletin, XXVI, 1944, figs. 5a, 10.
5 Silver cup from Boscoreale, Louvre, Paris. H. Th. Bossert and W. Zschietzschmann, Hellas and Rome, London 1936, pl. 256.
6 p. T. Michels, Die Dornenkrönung als Triumph Christi, Festschrift W. Sas-Zaloziecky, Graz 1956, pp. 118—123.
7 Cyrillus Hieros., Homil. in paralyt. 12. Quoted from the German translation, Baus, op. cit., p. 207f.
OE THE CROWNING WITH THORNS
by Knut Berg
The Crowning with Thorns is described in three of the Gospels, Matthew 27, 27-32, Mark 15, 16-21 and
John 19, 2—5. The description of the Crowning itself is practically identical in all the three Gospels.
After Christ had been interrogated by Pilate, the soldiers took Him with them into the Praetorium where
they made Him a Crown of Thorns, put on Him a purple robe and gave Him a reed in His right hand.
After this they mocked Him and salutedHim: Ave rex Judaeorum. According to Matthew and Mark He
was then dressed in His own clothes and taken out to be crucified. In John the description is more exten-
ded. After the crowning Pilate takes Christ, wearing the Crown and the robe out to the assembled Jews
and says Ecce Homo and declares he can find no sin in Him, but the Jews demanded His crucifixion. Pilate
then interrogates Him a second time, after which he delivers Christ to the Jews to be crucified.
The earliest representation of the Crowning with Thorns is found on a Passion sarcophagus from the
catacomb of Domitilla, now no. 171 in the Lateran Museum (fig. 17). The sarcophagus can be dated to
the middle of the fourth Century1. The front of the sarcophagus is divided into five fields by columns.
Around the Crux Invicta in the central field are four scenes from the Passion of Christ: 1. Pilate
washing his hands; 2. Christ being led to Pilate; 3. The Crowning with Thorns, and 4. Simon car-
rying the Cross.
The coronation scene is not a direct illustration of any of the Gospel’s descriptions of the event. The
youthful Christ holding a bookroll is standing slightly turned to the right, and a soldier behind Him to the
left is holding the Crown above His head. There is no indication of any derision, and Christ does not wear
any of the other attributes of the scene mentioned in the Gospels, i. e. the robe and the reed, and the
Crown itself in no way resembles a Crown of Thorns.
It has offen been pointed out that the iconography of the scene closely follows a well known theme in
Imperial iconography, that of a figure standing behind the Emperor holding a laurel wreath above his
head2. The motif is used in different Connections, as in Apotheosises of the Emperor3, in Adventus scenes4,
in triumphal processions5 etc., but the meaning of the act is always the same, it signifies the Emperor
as Triumphator and Invictus, receiving his Laurea Triumphales.
It is in the same sense that the Crowning with Thorns on the Passion sarcophagus must be interpreted.
Even though the sequence of the scenes on the sarcophagus leaves no doubt as to the identification of
the scene as representing the Crowning with Thorns, it is here not represented in its historical sense as
representing the humiliation and suffering of Christ. The Crowning with Thorns has become a symbol of
the Triumph of Christ, and like the Emperor after his victories He receives His Laurea Triumphalis.
Michels6 has shown that the Interpretation of the Crowning with Thorns as a symbolic act designating
Christ as Triumpjhator also was common in Contemporary theological literature. Nowhere perhaps do we
find this idea better expressed than in a homily by Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315-366): “. . . and also they
put on him a purple robe; although it was to ridicule, it was a prophetic act, because He really was
Basileus. They did it to scorn, but anyhow they did it, and that become a symbol of His imperial dignity.
Although it was a wreath of thorns, it was a wreath, and it was braided by soldiers, because the Emperors
were proclaimed by soldiers”7.
The triumphal aspect of the Crowning with Thorns could not be expressed more explicitly than on the
Lateran sarcophagus. But this is not a unique case; in all the representations of the motif, until the end
1 F. Gerke, Christus in der spätantiken Plastik, Berlin 1940, p. 37; M. Lawrence, Columnar Sarcophaghi in the Latin West,
Art Bulletin, XIV, 1932, p. 139f.
2 Gerke, op. eit., p. 36; K. Baus, Der Kranz in Antike und Christentum, Theophania, II, Bonn 1940, p. 207; K. Wessel,
Christus Rex, Kaiserkult und Christusbild, Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1953, col. 127ff.
3 Augustus-Cameo in Vienna. F. Eichler and E. Kris, Die Kameen im Kunsthistorischen Museum. Beschreibender Katalog,
Wien 1927, no. 7, p. 52ff., pl. 4.
4 For examples see E. H. Kantorowicz, The “Kings Advent”, Art Bulletin, XXVI, 1944, figs. 5a, 10.
5 Silver cup from Boscoreale, Louvre, Paris. H. Th. Bossert and W. Zschietzschmann, Hellas and Rome, London 1936, pl. 256.
6 p. T. Michels, Die Dornenkrönung als Triumph Christi, Festschrift W. Sas-Zaloziecky, Graz 1956, pp. 118—123.
7 Cyrillus Hieros., Homil. in paralyt. 12. Quoted from the German translation, Baus, op. cit., p. 207f.