The Flagellation; (reverse) The Madonna of Mercy

Girolamo Romanino was a leading painter in Brescia during the early sixteenth century, known for his powerfully expressive religious works that blended Venetian coloring with a raw emotional intensity. This double-sided canvas showing the Flagellation and the Madonna of Mercy was likely a processional banner (gonfalone) carried in religious processions. Romanino's visceral, earthy style contrasted with the more polished manner of his Brescian rival Moretto.

The distemper and oil on canvas creates matte, fresco-like effects on both sides of the banner. The bold, expressive figure painting and dramatic composition demonstrate Romanino's characteristic synthesis of Venetian warmth with northern Italian emotional directness.