Ecce Homo (detail)

Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Jerusalem, leads Christ, after his questioning and scourging, before the masses and says, Ecce homo! (Behold the man!) and offers his release. The masses, however, demand his crucifixion. Within the pictorial setting of the ancient Roman Empire, Titian mixes time periods together by introducing the current Habsburg imperial house into the scene. (He had been their titled court painter since 1533.) The double eagle on the shield and next to it the addition to the signature of eques ces(aris) imperial knight were signs of homage paid by Titian to his Habsburg sovereigns.https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/saskia/3098/thumbnail.jp