Behold The Man

Christ Crowned With Thorns by Dirk Bouts

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00047w7

At the National Gallery, writer Sathnam Sanghera - son of devout Sikh parents – comes face to face with a 15th-century image of the suffering Christ.

(Image: Workshop of Dirk Bouts, ‘Christ Crowned with Thorns’, about 1470-5 © The National Gallery, London)

Christ Before Pilate by the Master of Cappenberg

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000488s

Writer Kit de Waal seeks out a painting at the National Gallery showing Pilate washing his hands of his part in Christ’s death - and it brings back painful childhood memories.

Christ as the Man of Sorrows by Jacobello del Bonomo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00048c1

Muslim journalist Abdul-Rehman Malik scrutinises a 14th-century Italian painting at the National Gallery - because this Christ, unlike most others, is brown-skinned.

The Crucifixion by the Master of Delft

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000486n

Writer and film-maker Sheila Hayman works with torture survivors, work that is often life-affirming – like her choice of painting at the National Gallery. 

The Incredulity of St Thomas by Guercino

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00048dl

Novelist Chibundu Onuzo grew up in Lagos. Her chosen painting at the National Gallery appealed to her because of its subject matter - because Thomas is a kindred spirit to her.