Christ is shown after the Flagellation, tied by his hands to the
column. The blood-stained instruments of flagellation lie before
him, in the foreground of the composition. On the right, at the
bidding of the Guardian Angel, the Christian Soul, personified
as a kneeling child, contemplates the suffering of Christ. This
subject was rarely treated in paintings. The figure of Christ
reflects Italian, specifically Bolognese, figure-painting which
Velázquez would have known from works in the Royal Collection in
Madrid. The style and colouring of the picture suggest a date
before the artist's first visit to Italy (1629-31).