Title
Christ with the Crown of Thorns
painter
Maestro de Osma [attributed to] (Active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries)
Generic classification
PaintingObject
PaintingDate
ca. 1500Cultural context / style
Hispano-Flemish GothicDimensions
29 x 24 1/2 inMaterial
PanelTechnique
Oil PaintingIconography / Theme
Ecce HomoProvenance
Possible origin from Castile and Leon (Castilla y León, Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Spain)Current location
Los Angeles County Museum (Los Ángeles, United States)Inventory Number in Current Collection
53.52Object history
This panel is attributed to the Master of Osma, an artist active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. We do not know where it was located, but its creator carried out works for Burgo de Osma (Soria), Corrales de Duero, Curiel de Duero, Langayo (Valladolid), and Palencia. Silva Maroto (2007) notes that it was likely a work created for private devotion. This painter produced numerous devotional works, such as the Virgin of the Milk with the Child.
We have no surviving documents that allow us to know for whom it was made or where it was located; however, given that the Master of Osma carried out work in the provinces of Palencia, Soria, and Valladolid, we believe it must have been in the Castilian region. The panel was acquired in the second quarter of the 20th century by Herbert Thomas Kalmus, president of Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation. Between 1952 and 1962, Kalmus donated his art collection to various American institutions and foundations. In 1953, he donated *Christ with the Crown of Thorns* to the Los Angeles County Museum, where it remains today.
Description
Christ is depicted with marks all over his body, evidence of the blows he received during the flagellation. A rope is tied around his neck, which also binds his hands, and he wears a crown of thorns on his head. He wears only a red cloak draped over his shoulders, indicating that the Master of Osma based his depiction on the image of Christ when Pilate presented him before the Jewish people (Silva Maroto, 2007). The background is dark, and the following inscription is visible: Ecce Homo.
Locations
XVIth c.
Second quarter of the XXth c. - ca. 1953
private collection
Herbert Thomas Kalmus, Los Ángeles (United States) *
ca. 1953 - present
Bibliography
- BORCHERT, Till-Holger (2002): Le Siecle de Van Eyck: Le Monde Mediterraneen et les Primit, Ludion, Ámsterdam, p. 268.
- SILVA MAROTO, Pilar (2007): "Obras para la devoción privada en Castilla a fines del siglo XV: El Maestro de Osma", en In sapientia libertas: escritos en homenaje al profesor Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Christ with the Crown of Thorns" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/562
