Christus vor der Geißelung (Kopie nach)

Christ Before the Flagellation (copy after Annibale, c. 1590s), in the Bavarian State Painting Collections, is identified as a copy after an Annibale Carracci composition depicting Christ at the moment before or during his scourging. The existence of copies testifies to the influence and desirability of Annibale's compositions, which were studied and reproduced by students and followers throughout the Bolognese school. Distinguishing copies from originals is a persistent challenge in Carracci scholarship, as the family's academy trained painters to work in closely related styles. The Bavarian collections' identification of this work as a copy reflects careful connoisseurship applied to a body of work where attribution questions remain frequent and contested.

While following an Annibale prototype, the handling shows the slightly harder contours and less subtle tonal transitions that typically distinguish a copy from an autograph work. The composition's effectiveness, however, testifies to the power of the original design.