Pilate washing his hands

The drawing is a combination of the right-hand group of figures from Pilate Washing his Hands from Albrecht Dürer's Engraved Passion, and the left hand group from the Ecce Homo from the same series. The Engraved Passion (1507-1512) was one of four major series of religious prints made by Dürer, and helped to establish his reputation as an outstanding Renaissance printmaker. This is one of the artworks presented by the Liverpool Royal Institution. Liverpool’s economic development grew directly from Britain’s involvement with transatlantic slavery: the kidnapping, enslavement and forced migration of people from West Africa to the Americas and many to the Caribbean. Many members of the Royal Institution made their fortunes directly through the trade or indirectly through the wider economy. This wealth was largely how they were able to bring rare art and treasures, such as this, to the city.