With dignity Christ endures the abuse by the henchmen, who press the crown of thorns onto his head with sticks. The sombre atmosphere underlines the brutality of the torture scene. This painting is a major work from Titian’s late creative period. Through the expressive style and the dissolution of contours he achieves a painterly expressiveness that was unique at that time and irritated many of his contemporaries. The art theorist Giorgio Vasari, on the other hand, praised Titian’s late work for its masterly vitality and the perfect illusion of effortlessness that is evident to art connoisseurs.