He turns his head to hear his wife.
Bible in art · Matthew
The Message of Pilate's Wife. Pilate
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Pilate sits on his judgement seat in a white toga with orange borders, a scroll in his lap. His wife has come up behind him wrapped in a white veil and leans close to whisper in his ear, a hand raised to her face.
Pilate turns his head to listen with a troubled look. Roman soldiers in armour stand guard at the right, a trumpeter among them, and through the arch at the left a crowd gathers in the square below.
From the text
- “While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message” (Matthew 27:19)
- “Have nothing to do with that innocent man” (Matthew 27:19)
The artist’s own
- The wife coming in person instead of sending a message
- A soldier with a curved horn
Details
Pilate
His wife
Veiled in white, she whispers to him.
The guard
Roman soldiers in armour stand by.
The crowd
People gather in the square outside.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.260a-b) · 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".