Attributed to Anton Raphael Mengs

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 5 June 2002, lot 120;

Where acquired by the present collector.

Wearing the crown of thorns and carrying the cross on which he will soon be crucified, Christ engages directly with the viewer, imbuing the image with a moving pathos. Christ, with tear-filled eyes and open mouth, is presented as a human being, one who suffers in the same way as might the viewer. Born in Bohemia, Mengs worked for the king of Saxony before traveling to Rome, where the artist enjoyed the patronage of both the papacy and the Roman elite. In 1761, Mengs was appointed court painter to Charles III of Spain.