Christ Leaving the Praetorium

OIL PAINTING; GUSTAVE DORE. PAINTED 1867-1872. HEIGHT, 20 FEET; WIDTH, 30 FEET.

This picture is a companion to "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem," and is by many pronounced the finer of the two. Dore was occupied for three years in painting it, and it was unfinished at the breaking out of the Franco-Prussian War; but during the siege of Paris it lay carefully hidden, out of the reach of shot and shell. There are more than two hundred figures on the canvas, most of them life size. The subject is one of the most pathetic in the whole drama of Redemption. The Saviour is walking down the steps from the Judgment hall or Praetorium to Golgotha. He is alone,--not one of his enemies daring, as yet, to approach Him. Arrayed in a seamless garment of white, with a crown of thorns on His head, from which emanates a halo of glory, the Great Condemned preserves a sublime dignity of manner, which overawes even His most bitter enemies. Near to Christ, as the central figure, may be seen a group of three of the chief priests-Caiaphas, gloomy, with a look of malignant triumph; Annas, his aged father-in-law, and a third, seen in profile, Alexander, or one of the kindred of the high priest. In the foreground of the picture is an excited mob, through which the Roman guard is sternly clearing the path by which the Saviour is to pass to Calvary, preceded by the cross. Close by the guard is the drooping figure of the Virgin mother, robed in her traditional blue, and near her is Mary Magdalene, sinking to the earth at the sight of her Divine Master's suffering. High dignitaries stand in almost reverent awe on the left of the picture, while Jewish figures crowd the corners of the picture, pressing forward to gaze upon the rejected Messiah. Looking intently into these faces, one can almost hear them cry, "Away with him! Crucify him!" In the distant background of the picture, the air is growing dark with tempestuous clouds; but in the distance may be distinguished the figures of Pontius Pilate and Herod, becoming friends again, as related by the Evangelist. The Roman governor, robed in a long toga of dusky red, seems by his gestures to be disclaiming all responsibility. This picture, in all its details, is in marked contrast with its companion, "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem." The Redeemer is the central figure in each. In one the multitude is shouting, "Hosanna!" "Save now, we pray!" In the other, which portrays the events of a day two weeks later, their cry is, "Away with him!"

The room in which these two pictures are exhibited is always crowded with reverent spectators, who seem awe-struck, and speak only in suppressed whispers.