The artist has given a very personal interpretation of the subject, which is taken from the Gospel according to St. John.  The moment depicted is when Pilate announces to the assembled crowd ‘behold the man’. Christ’s face shows the marks left by the Crown of Thorns on his forehead, and he holds a reed sceptre in mockery of his Kingship.  Ecce Homo was one of Morales’ favourite themes and there are many variations known, each one with many small differences. The version in the Academia de San Fernando, in Madrid, with an extra figure added on the left, depicts an earlier moment in the narrative where Christ is still wearing the Crown of Thorns and the purple robe, also in mockery of his kingship. This one is stylistically independent of many of the others except for the closely related work in the church at Arroyo de la Luz (Extremadura), which can be dated through documentation to the years 1563-1568.

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