Christ Before Pilate (recto)

Attributed to the Master of the View of Saint Gudula and dated around 1467, this Christ Before Pilate panel — one side of a work now in the Bowes Museum, County Durham — belonged to a Passion cycle diptych or small altarpiece. The anonymous master takes his name from a Brussels panel depicting the collegiate church of Saint Gudula and is associated with Brabant painters of the 1460s-70s. Pilate's examination of Christ — the moment when the Roman governor famously washed his hands of responsibility — was a standard scene in Northern Passion cycles, depicted with particular attention to the contrast between judicial authority and the dignity of the accused.

Oil on panel with Flemish interior space — a vaulted hall, Roman official costumes, Jewish crowd behind Christ — executed with characteristic Northern care for material surfaces. The 'recto' designation confirms this panel was painted on both sides, as was common with small devotional wings used in portable altarpieces.