Edouard Manet, Head of Christ, oil on canvas, 1865, Legion of Honor, FAMSF, San Francisco.
I have waited to write about this painting. Last Fall I started two copies—an idea in progress. I love this painting, everything about it, the size, the colors, the composition, and the psychological presentation of Christ.
The painting is a powerful portrayal of the suffering endured by Jesus when mocked. His eyes are set upon a distant horizon of thought, or of memory—he is human. A man amidst the storm of being, in pain, and numb to it somehow.
The minimized palette serves the somber reflection of Manet. The work is a serious synthesis of painterly voicing—the artist marrying the human and the divine. The painting is not sensational, it is not overwrought, it is perfection. One senses the torment of a real man.
The chest of Jesus is exposed. The single breast, his nakedness and sloped shoulders, show us the meaning of posture. Christ is depicted at a moment of human defeat.
The painting is silent and passionate at once.
by Drew Burgess
Drew Burgess is an art professor at the College of Alameda of the Peralta Community College District of California.
Cite this page: Drew Burgess, “Head of Christ by Edouard Manet”, March 23, 2025, https://www.drewburgess.art/museum-visits/head-of-christ-by-edouard-manet
