Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010793The Flagellation
by Moderno
About the Artwork
Although not exact copies, the compositions of both this bronze plaque and drawing derive from the Laocoön group, an ancient marble sculpture unearthed in 1506 in Rome. The nearly life-size statue of the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons battling giant sea snakes quickly became a source of inspiration for artists. They especially appreciated the emotional anguish and physical strain portrayed by the struggling male nudes. In The Flagellation, the sculptor Moderno adopted Laocoön’s pose and muscularity for the suffering figure of Christ, thereby presenting him as an athletic and virtuous hero. Pordenone’s drawing of a man entwined by two serpents seems to be his own expressive version of Laocoön.
Provenance
Ruetschi, Zurich. Blumka Gallery (New York, New York), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967.
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967). Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-December 31, 2017).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Moderno (Italian, 1467–1528)
- Date
- 1500s
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Overall: 14 x 10 cm (5 1/2 x 3 15/16 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Chester D. Tripp
- Accession no.
- 1967.150
More by Moderno in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00010793
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