Christ Presented to the People
Gustave Doré, 1866 · John 19:15
The passage
But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
John 19:15
About this plate
A terrace at the top left, and on it Christ standing bound, crowned, with a figure just behind him. Below and to the right, the crowd — a shallow sea of upturned faces, arms up, mouths open, packed to the edge of the plate. A stone parapet runs between them.
Doré has drawn the parapet as the real subject. It cuts the picture in half diagonally and separates two figures from three hundred, and the whole composition is about which side of that line you are on.
The verse is a shouted exchange and the King James lets it run without commentary: Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
That last answer is the sentence in the whole passion that most repays a second reading. It is not about Jesus at all. It is a public statement of political loyalty, made by priests, in a temple city, under occupation. Doré puts the men who said it in the front row of the crowd.
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