Rouault, Georges (1932). Christ Mocked by Soldiers [oil on canvas]. © 2008 Artists Rights Society, NY/ADGP, Paris. The Museum of Modern Art, NY.

Christ carries a pose showing he has accepted his fate. The facial features of the soldiers say something about their sniveling character. Shapes and colors are treated with increased independence; the dense strokes separating them increases their relateability. |

If not for the title, pinpointing the subject as framed by two roman soldiers would be difficult for me. Formatting and content are the most important aspects of this work. The soldiers are given mincing expressions and large areas of slimy, gross greens, whereas the figure of Christ is not. His torso is elongated, his limbs thin, emphasizing his remoteness and suffering.

Texture and color each slightly outweigh line and shape as the foremost elements used to build this composition. Texture is rough, globally consistent and expertly employed to support this works emotional weight. Shapes define themselves more than the thick, dense stokes that lock them into place. Beyond that, a subtle pattern is evident based on small, circular and narrow, elongated shapes.

A flat composition results from the arrangement, relative size and emphasis on shape. This work has an asymmetrically static feel because of how the dark tones frame the edges and the character of the dense strokes. Dense tones dominate. The whites strongly contrast against this overall quality and harmonize it as well. Sickly greens are roughly equivalent to warm, fleshy oranges in terms of area.

The resigned, eye-closed expression on the face of Christ is framed by the faces of the soldiers. His position gathers further weight because of the direction of their gazes. The stroke and shape direction of the elements creating Christ’s body pull the eye downward. The field of view is noticeably compressed, but not overly intimate. I believe the viewer is positioned as one of the guards, and the composition places the character qualities of them on the viewer.

Masterful use of complementary elements deserve specific attention: blues against oranges, greens against reds, dense versus light, muddy versus pure. Shapes are well-defined; their relationships to each other, seamlessly combined with Rouault’s masterful sense of balancing differences, forge an amazingly unified composition.