The Flagellation of Saint George

Bernat Martorell's Flagellation of Saint George, painted around 1435 for the Louvre, continues the narrative of the saint's persecution before his eventual martyrdom. Martorell's treatment of this violent subject combines the decorative refinement of International Gothic painting with an unflinching approach to physical suffering. This work belongs to the Early Renaissance, the transformative period in European art when painters first applied mathematical perspective, naturalistic figure modeling, and archaeological interest in antiquity to the inherited traditions of medieval devotional painting. The tension between Gothic grace and Renaissance structure gives art of this period a distinctive energy.

The flagellation scene is composed with dramatic immediacy, the torturers flanking the bound saint in a composition that uses strong diagonals and vivid color to convey the brutality of the punishment.