Pilot Washing his Hands (1643) Mattia Preti. Here we encounter Pilate, who is looking directly at us, washing his hands as Jesus is being led away in the background. Pilate knows Jesus is innocent and he attempted to get the crowd to release Jesus, but they did not. He is washing is hands to show us that he feels no responsibility for Jesus’ death.

This painting is remarkable for many reasons, including the expression of Pilate towards us, the fact that Jesus is in the background of the painting (how often does that happen?) and Pretti’s inclusion of both an African boy and a 17th century armored solider.

The armored solider calls to mind Caravaggio’s “Crucifixion of St. Andrew” which features a similarly posed 17th century armored solider.