Christ and the Adultress Sheffield 1732

Giambattista Pittoni’s Christ and the Adulteress, was painted in Venice, a major European centre of artistic and intellectual life. In this image, the artist is exploring ideas about moral authority. The painting depicts a scene from the Gospel of John in which Jesus is confronted with a woman accused of adultery. According to religious law, she should be stoned to death. We see Jesus kneeling, writing in the dust, an action that is viewed as a challenge to the authority of the accusers who are depicted as being taken aback by his refusal to condemn the woman. The Roman soldiers in the scene remind us of the ever-present empire. The art historian asks questions about how this kind of image might function in a society that is governed by strict rules and codes of behavior. Old texts and theological debates can all shed light on how artists challenged existing social norms. Art is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it is made.