Christus met de doornenkroon en het kruis 1657

Matthys van den Bergh created this etching, Christus met de doornenkroon en het kruis, sometime in the 17th century. The image depicts Christ wearing a crown of thorns and carrying the cross. Van den Bergh was Flemish and worked during the Baroque period. The prevalence of Christian imagery at this time tells us much about the social and cultural landscape of the region. The Catholic Church was a major patron of the arts, and religious themes were common subjects for paintings, sculptures, and prints. This image of Christ carrying the cross would have been very familiar to the public, it is an image that speaks of suffering and sacrifice. To understand an image like this more deeply, we might look at the changing role of the church in the 17th century, or study the history of the printing press and the importance of this technology in disseminating religious ideas. The meaning of art is always shaped by these contexts.