What a look! What a design! The painter oriented his choice to an extraordinary modern solution: the contrast with the light in the background lets us clearly perceive Christ’s profile: we can see His beard, His protruding nose, His crown of thorns. And nothing else is left for us to contemplate.

Daumier was a painter involved in French republican riots of XIX century, he rarely painted religious subjects, he preferred other genres. Considering this, his ability in communicating the religious message is even more surprising. And the recognition of this increases when we think of this face of Christ in relation with the judgement Pilate asked to the crowd: who should he set free: Jesus or Barabbas? On Christ’s face lights and shades fight in a titanic war between good and evil. In Him, we seem to see the fulfilment of the prophecy written in Psalm 22, the one that Jesus pronounced aloud when He was on the Cross: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?… I am a worn and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head…my heart is like wax; it is melt in the midst of my bowels”.

Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, o God of my salvation. (Psalm 27, 9)