The Flagellation of Christ (detail of the three figures in the foreground) c. 1459 (oil...

Détail des trois personnages au premier-plan After numerous interpretations, 'The Flagellation' has come to be seen as an allegory of the Church's misfortunes in the face of the threatening Turks and the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Here, the main scene is pushed to the background and it is the three figures on the right that are the main subject of the work. The man on the far right is considered to be a representation of Giovanni Bacci (who is also assumed to be the the person who gave the work to the Duke of Urbino), or the Cardinal Bessarion. The young blond man is thought to be an angel, an allegorical figure or perhaps Buonconte, the young son of Federico of Montefeltro. The figure to the left is a Greek scholar.