Christ shown to the People

In the figure of Christ Ensor found a symbol of innocence, prosecuted truth and of subjugated virtue by the attacks of an inimical crowd. The drawing then, was also an occasion for the painter to express his own conflicting relationship with the community. Beginning with the series of The Aureoles of Christ, to which this drawing belongs, the Christ theme remains very important in the work of Ensor and in some works it is clear that he identifies himself with the Christ figure. The importance for the figure of Christ is in itself not exceptional in this period. Just as in many generations, Ensor was intrigued by the Christ figure as a revolutionary or anarchist.