Scenes from the Life of Christ by James Ensor
"Scènes de la vie du Christ" (Scenes from the Life of Christ) most famously refers to a portfolio of 32 coloured pencil drawing by the James Ensor, between 1911 and 1920 and published in 1921. The work illustrates key moments of Christ's life, from the Annunciation to the Crucifixion and Resurrection, of which the 12 here are available as pints in the shop.
Known for contrasting religious themes with carnival humour, Ensor's work in this series features grotesque figures, masks, and distorted perspectives alongside the sacred events. Ensor combines the sublime and the grotesque. In one image, Christ before His Judges, Ensor portrays himself as Christ, confronted with a dozen Belgian art critics who have gathered before him.
In 1929 the drawings were made into lithographs and published in the form of an album by Galerie Georges Giroux in Brussels.