A Passion for Business: Wanamaker's, Munkácsy, and the Depiction of Christ

Abstract

In late-nineteenth-century America, the Hungarian artist Mihály Munkácsy's Christ before Pilate and Christ on Golgotha enjoyed a phenomenal success, praised by critics, scholars, and ministers; thirty-five thousand Americans bought copies of the works to hang in their homes, schools, offices, and churches and millions viewed them in traveling exhibitions. John Wanamaker, the founder of what was arguably the most important department store empire at the turn of the century, bought the originals and displayed them in his store. The story of these paintings in the United States illuminates the confluence of business, art, and religion in this period.