The oil painting combines two events from Biblical account of the
Passion of Jesus: the
Mocking of Jesus and the
Crowning with Thorns. A serene Jesus, dressed in white at the centre of the busy scene, is gazing calmly from the picture, in contrast with the violent intent of the four men around him. Two armoured soldiers stand above and behind him, with two other spectators kneeling below and in front. The soldier to the right, with
oak leaves in his hat and a spiked collar, is grasping Christ's shoulder, while the other soldier to the left, dressed in green with a broad-headed hunting
crossbow bolt through his headdress, holds the
crown of thorns in a gauntleted hand, about to thrust it onto Christ's head. The position of the crown of thorns creates a halo above the head of Jesus. In front, the man the left has a blue robe and red head covering, and the man to the right in a light red robe is grasping Christ's cloak to strip it off. Examination of the picture has shown that in the preliminary sketch, the scene was more brutal, and the cruelty has been toned down in the final version, making the men's expressions more enigmatic. The four tormentors of Christ may show different aspects of the
four humours, with phlegmatic and melancholic soldiers, and sanguine and choleric spectators. The figures are crowded together in a small space in a single plane, in a manner reminiscent of
Flemish devotional art of the type popularized by
Hans Memling and
Hugo van der Goes. The painting is on an oak panel and measures . It was painted on top of an unfinished painting of
Saint Christopher, probably also by Bosch. It is in good condition, although some hues have faded, particularly red
lakes, and the
copper greens are turning brown. Thinning paint has revealed some of the
underdrawing and
pentimenti. It was in the collection of
Hollingworth Magniac, known as the
Colworth collection, and then sold from the estate of his son
Charles Magniac in 1892 and bought by Robert Thompson Crawshay (the fourth son of
Robert Thompson Crawshay). It was later bought by an art dealer, the Galleria San Giorgio in Rome, and it was bought by the National Gallery in 1934. ==Interpretation==