Ecce Homo by Titian, National Gallery Dublin: Famous Paintings and their Hidden Histories – Spring 2026

Artist and art teacher Áine Andrews returns with another series of lectures on Famous Paintings and their Hidden Histories. For the fourth installment of this six part lecture series, Áine will focus on Ecce Homo by Titian, recounting its history, as well as that of the artist and his story.

Ecce Homo by Titian, National Gallery of Ireland Dublin

Titian was one of the most important art historical figures to emerge from Venice in the 16th century and excelled in many genres, including mythologies, nudes and portraits.

The title of this painting refers to its religious subject matter- ‘Ecce Homo’, meaning ‘behold the man’-  and refers to the episode from the Passion of Christ in which Christ is presented by Pontius Pilate to the Jews assembled outside the judgement hall after being flagellated and subjected to the crown of thorns. In this very moving image of physical suffering the Saviour appears powerless, in tears, and his tortured body is covered in blood.

One of the National Gallery of Ireland’s most popular work the small painting was acquired by in 1885 but in a story which echoed the much later finding of Caravaggio’s Taking of Christ, Ecce Home was for some time attributed to a Spanish artist.

When it first entered the Gallery’s collection, it was catalogued as a work by Titian but, in the 1914 catalogue of the Gallery the attribution had been changed and it was described as the work of a Spanish imitator, Matteo Cerezo.

The current accepted attribution to Titian was restored after a major cleaning in 1954. Overpainting that had obscured the original work was removed to reveal the characteristic handling of fast dabs of paint and creative changes (pentimenti) such as the repositioning of the sceptre consistent with Titian’s late style.

Many Renaissance painters endeavoured to show their skill through the painstaking execution of architectural and anatomical details but Titian avoids these grand designs and finer details, in favour of a more expressive handling of paint to achieve an image of deep spirituality.