An Aid in Performing Inward Reflection: The Unique Position of the Man of Sorrows by Geertgen tot Sint Jans

Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Man of Sorrows, c. 1490, oil on wood panel (Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht)

The painting Man of Sorrows by Netherlandish artist Geertgen tot Sint Jans is a fifteenth century religious work of the Northern Renaissance. It is one of many adaptations of the popular devotional Man of Sorrows image type portrayed throughout Christian Europe beginning in the Middle Ages. While Geertgen’s image adheres to the basic principles of the type, by portraying a living, suffering Christ who displays the wounds received in his torture and killing, it is through considering the ways in which this Man of Sorrows diverges from the typical portrayal that one can best understand the image’s aim. Its atypical features, most notably the dynamic quality of the scene and the lively, arresting outward gaze of Christ, place a primary emphasis on inner mental state as opposed to physical qualities. Viewers are invited into the image, where they are guided by the sorrowful expressions of its multiple figures, ultimately to dwell on Christ, who gazes directly back at them with tear-filled eyes. The sorrow communicated through the image and the direct engagement between Christ and viewers, together with knowledge of the painting’s original placement within a church confessional, make clear the image’s position as a penitential tool. It serves as an aid used in completing one’s confession. While the dynamic scene first encourages an examination of the image, the expressive face of Christ ultimately would have led viewers to conduct an examination of the self. In recognizing his experience of an inward state, viewers would be prompted to determine what is on the mind of Christ, a task made simply by his direct eye contact, which suggests that they themselves are responsible for his pain and sorrow because their sins have contributed to his suffering and death. Thus, viewers would recognize and reflect on their failures and wrongdoings, ultimately inspiring the move toward penitential action: the act of making a confession.