Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator, and sculptor. Doré primarily worked as a literary illustrator. Doré’s commissions include Milton’s Paradise Lost, Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, and an oversized copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”. He also illustrated a Bible that was published in 1866. In 1873, Doré painted Christ Leaving the Praetorium as an oil painting. This painting was the first time that Doré had entered into the subject of the grand domain of the Divinity and the sublime element of the life and passion of our Savior. The painting is said to be the result of a conversation between Doré and the Rev. Frederick Harford, who was the minor canon of Westminster at the time. For the question arose whether the moment before Christ was hung on the cross had ever been painted, which enflamed Doré with the desire to paint such a scene. Here, Christ, crowned with thorns, descends alone the steep steps which lead to the cross. In front of Him stands Simon of Cyrene, bent under the weight of the heavy cross. On either side the clamorous mob seem to cry aloud “Away with Him, crucify Him!” The Virgin Mary is depicted in the bottom right corner, sinking with sorrow. She appears almost as if she is about to faint. In short, Doré’s Christ Leaving the Praetorium is a study of contrasts: Christ and Mary as opposed to the mob - brilliantly white and pure vs. dark and shadowed; still and quiet vs. chaotic and troubled.
