Pilate Washing His Hands  1663

The painting illustrates the episode in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Pontius Pilate, after having tried to save Christ from death, washed his hands and declared "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person." The canvas is mentioned in two letters addressed by Preti to the Sicilian collector Antonio Ruffo in 1663. It was not purchased by Ruffo—who owned Rembrandt...