Christ before Pilate 1910

Jacek Malczewski painted Christ Before Pilate in oil, a tight crop of two figures, likely somewhere in Europe. Looking at the paint, it seems thin, glazed in layers—it gives the picture a hazy quality. Pilate is catching the light, and his face has a kind of cold indifference. His hands are busy, fussing with something, while Christ stares out with this intense, pleading gaze. You can see the pain around his eyes. I think Malczewski wants us to feel the injustice of the moment. He wants us to witness this encounter. I wonder what Malczewski was thinking about while making this painting. As artists, we’re often in conversation with the past, with the whole history of painting. We’re all standing on each other's shoulders, wrestling with the same questions: How do we make an image that speaks, that moves, that makes you feel something? We try, we fail, we try again, but that’s where the good stuff comes from.