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The Quintet of the Astonished
The Quintet of the Astonished, 2000, par Bill Viola.
Video rear projection on wall-mounted screen, artist’s proof, collection of the artist.
© Bill Viola, photograph : Kira Perov
One of the first works in The Passions series, The Quintet of the Astonished, was commissioned by the National Gallery, London, and was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s painting of a quartet of executioners surrounding Christ. Shot on high-speed film, permitting the action to be slowed drastically when played back, the video is an intense tableau of shifting and momentary emotions. The relationships between the figures were unplanned and exist in varying intensities over the work’s duration. [1]