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Pilate Washing His Hands

1663
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 620
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate tried to save Christ from death and symbolically washed his hands, stating, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person.” Pilate has been given monumental form in this rare depiction of the subject, while Christ is shown in the middle ground being led to the cross. The young African attendant is given a central role, not only in the composition but also through a facial expression that registers the import of Pilate’s action. Preti based his use of such figures of African descent on Renaissance precedents, notably by the Venetian painter Paolo Veronese, though Preti executed this work in Malta, an island with a particularly multiracial population due to its centrality in the Mediterranean slave trade.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pilate Washing His Hands
  • Artist: Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) (Italian, Taverna 1613–1699 Valletta)
  • Date: 1663
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 81 1/8 x 72 3/4 in. (206.1 x 184.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan and Bequest of Helena W. Charlton, by exchange, Gwynne Andrews, Marquand, Rogers, Victor Wilbour Memorial, and The Alfred N. Punnett Endowment Funds, and funds given or bequeathed by friends of the Museum, 1978
  • Object Number: 1978.402
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Saint in Ecstasy, Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) Italian, Pen and brown ink, washed, on brownish paper
Saint in Ecstasy
Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese)
1613–99
Kneeling Woman, Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) Italian, Red chalk on light brown paper
Kneeling Woman
Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese)
17th century
Seated Bishop with Arms Extended and Three Attendant Figures (recto); Head of a Lion and Perspective Diagrams (verso), Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) Italian, Red chalk, brush and red wash (recto); red chalk (verso), on beige paper
Seated Bishop with Arms Extended and Three Attendant Figures (recto); Head of a Lion and Perspective Diagrams (verso)
Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese)
1613–99
A Group of Saints and Angels (recto); Studies of a Male Figure in a Pendentive (verso), Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) Italian, Red chalk, brush and red wash (recto and verso)
A Group of Saints and Angels (recto); Studies of a Male Figure in a Pendentive (verso)
Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese)
1613–99
Saint John the Baptist Preaching, Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) Italian, Oil on canvas
Saint John the Baptist Preaching
Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese)
ca. 1650

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Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese) - Pilate Washing His Hands - The Metropolitan Museum of Art