Relief, gilt bronze, the Flagellation of Christ, by Guglielmo della Porta, Italy (Rome), ca. 1575

Christ is shown against a column supported by a putto head with an architectural background. He is flanked by five figures with whips. Four of these hold their whips above their heads as they beat Christ, whilst the fifth sits on the left in contemplation. Behind the flagellants on each side are figures of onlookers, some leaning on the balconies of the building in the background.

The cast is of even thickness, with the reverse hollowed out to the rough shape of the main group of figures and the architecture. Cracks and cast lines are visible on the reverse, and marks where the runners and risers were attached. There is solder in the bottom at the centre.

Before it appeared on the art market in the 1970s, this piece was unknown. Bought from Cyril Humphris for £12,500, in 1977.

Towards the end of his life, Guglielmo seems to have cast a number of small versions of reliefs from his planned series representing the Passion of Christ. Each of these follows a slightly different format (for example, a Christ appearing to the Apostles in New York takes the form of a pax), and it is doubtful whether the whole series was ever cast, even in small versions such as this.

The V&A panel is not currently mounted, but was presumably intended to mounted into a larger object or frame, as the back of the panel is unfinished. It is worth speculating why the piece was made, as the Flagellation was not a usual subject for private devotion as single image. The image was unsuitable for use as a pax, and in any case, the relief is too large. Most likely, it was either part of a series of plaques, intended to be affixed to a sculptural ensemble, or it was produced as part of the long process of trying to find a suitable home for Guglielmo's planned Passion series.

Historical significance: Guglielmo della Porta was active amongst the artists working in Rome in the shadow of Michelangelo. He seems to have been the son of Gian Giacomo della Porta, of the Milanese family of sculptors, and probably trained in that city, before working in Genoa and finally Rome. It was only after he came to Rome that he appears to have started working with bronze, a material which his workshop seems to have specialised in, along with the restoration of antique statuary. Guglielmo's shop acted as a training ground for artists like Willem Tetrode, who would spread the renaissance style of bronze casting to the Netherlands. He was also interested in artistic theory, planning a treatise on architecture, and collecting notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci. His religious convictions are demonstrated by the fact that he was also a Cistercian lay brother.

This relief embodies many characteristics typical of sixteenth century Roman religious art - a concentration on the human body, and particularly the body of Christ, often with elongated proportions; a preference for highly populated and dramatic scenes; and the use of large architectural stages for the action.

Gugliemo spent much of his later career, between 1555 and 1575, working on a projected series of fourteen reliefs devoted to the Passion. These are known today mainly through Vasari and other contemporary writers, as well as the artist's own writings and sketchbooks. Guglielmo had originally intended to produce these reliefs on a large scale, and various proposals for siting them were mooted over the years: the walls of a chapel for the projected equestrian monument to Charles V (about 1559); one of the doors of Michelangelo's St Peter's; the doors of Florence Cathedral (1569); the high altar of St Peter's (1574). The sculptor later offered them to the King of Spain. Over the years, the series of fourteen reliefs, of which the Flagellation was planned as the seventh, was apparently reduced to eight episodes. A statement by Guglielmo in 1575 mentioning 'storie della passione di Iesu Cristo di metallo indorato' would seem to suggest that at least some of these scenes were cast in gilt bronze during the artist's lifetime.

After Guglielmo's death in 1578, a number of wax models, presumably including those for his projected Passion series were recorded amongst the effects he left in the 'Ufficio del Piombo' (the office of the Pope's official in charge of the lead used for making papal bulls) in the Vatican. In 1586, Guglielmo's disinherited son Fidia broke into this workshop, and stole a number of pieces, which apparently became dispersed amongst Roman artists. There has been speculation over who produced various apparently later reliefs using Gugliemo's designs.

This relief can be ascribed confidently to Guglielmo della Porta on the basis of a comparison with drawings in his surviving sketchbooks in Dusseldorf. The V&A plaque is very similar, both in style and composition, to a series of sketches for a Flagellation scene, reproduced as cat. nos. 109 and 115 in the 1964 facsimile of the sketchbooks.

There also exist other versions of this relief. There is a bronze version in the Staatliche Museum, Berlin, and two other silver versions, one in the Los Angeles County Museum, the other in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. In all of these cases, the execution is much more coarse, and the assumption must be made that the V&A cast is the closest to the original wax model, and was possibly chased by Guglielmo himself.

This relief can confidently be ascribed to Guglielmo della Porta. Gugliemo spent much of his later career, between 1555 and 1575, working on a projected series of fourteen reliefs devoted to the Passion, a project which was never completed. This composition was one of the series.
The compositions are known today through descriptions, and the artist's own writings and sketchbooks. At least some of these scenes seem to have been cast in gilt bronze during Guglielmo's lifetime.

In 1586, after Guglielmo's death, his disinherited son Fidia broke into the workshop, and stole a number of pieces, which became dispersed amongst Roman artists. There has been speculation over who produced various later reliefs using Gugliemo's designs. This relief, however, is the closest surviving version to the original wax model, and was possibly cast by Guglielmo himself.

Guglielmo della Porta was one of a group of artists working in Rome under the shadow of Michelangelo. His workshop specialised in bronzes, along with the restoration of antique statuary. He was also interested in artistic theory, planning a treatise on architecture, and collecting notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci. His religious convictions are demonstrated by the fact that he was also a Cistercian lay brother.

A.1-1977