The Mocking of Christ, design for a stained glass window by Hans Holbein the Younger

The Mocking of Christ, design for a stained glass window. Pen and ink and brush over chalk underdrawing, grey wash, 43.2 × 30.6 cm, Kunstmuseum Basel.

This is one of a series of ten designs by Holbein for stained glass windows depicting the Passion of Christ. It is unknown whether Holbein drew other pictures for the series or whether these designs, which date from a period close to that when reformists attacked church imagery in Basel, were carried out. The viewpoint of the designs may relate to the intended positions of the windows, with some scenes depicted from below. Holbein also foreshortens and elongates the architectural motifs to retain their effect when seen from different angles. The drawings have sustained some damage from offsetting and from damp, causing lines and transitions to blur in places (Müller, 393–94).