Hoofd van Christus 1931

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this print of the Head of Christ, sometime in the first half of the twentieth century. It shows Jesus wearing the crown of thorns, but his eyes are closed, and his expression is serene. This image emerges out of a longer history of Christian iconography, where Jesus represents both divine power and the suffering of humanity. But we can ask, what purpose does such an image serve in the Netherlands in the 1900s? This print was made in the aftermath of World War One, which had a devastating impact on European society. Perhaps the artist saw the figure of Christ as an emblem of peace. Or maybe he meant to convey something about the nature of sacrifice, and the tension between worldly suffering and spiritual reward. To understand this work better, we might research Dutch religious history, art criticism, and the political culture of the interwar period. By investigating these histories, we can better understand how this image spoke to its original audience.