Joseph of Arimathaea Seeks Pilate to Beg Permission to Remove the Body of Jesus (Joseph d'Arimathie va trouver Pilate pour lui demander la permission d'enlever le corps de Jésus)

James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York

Tissot set the request in Pilate’s house: a room hung with patterned cloths and carpets, with a lamp on a tall stand. Pilate, in a white toga with red stripes, bends over a table of small objects.

Joseph of Arimathea comes in at the right, an old man in a dark mantle, bowing as he climbs the steps; a Roman soldier in a red cloak waits at the door.

From the text

Joseph of Arimathea “boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus” (Mark 15:43)

Pilate summons the centurion (Mark 15:44)

The artist’s own

Pilate’s room with hanging carpets

Joseph bowing as he enters

Details

Joseph

An old man in a dark mantle bows as he comes in.

Pilate

He leans over the table in a striped toga.

The soldier

A Roman in red at the doorway.

Hangings

Patterned cloths hang across the room.

James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.318) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".