Christ Crowned with Thorns
by JANSSENS, Jan Willem, Oil on canvas, 221 x 168 cm
Janssens’s altarpieces and other devotional pictures, with scenes from the life of Christ and the saints, painted in a mercilessly realistic style, must have been very popular. By illuminating his characters from a concealed light source so that they are strongly modelled, Janssens created a very direct dramatic effect. The work of the Utrecht Caravaggists Dirck van Baburen, Gerard van Honthorst and Hendrick Terbrugghen clearly served as his model, and he certainly copied Baburen’s work.