Curatorial Narrative The subject of “Christ with Apostles and a Roman Soldier” by Ernest Zacharias Platner exists in an interstitial space between the Classical and Baroque styles. The artist’s employment of soft brushwork imbues the work with a tactile quality that belies its otherwise formal composition. This tension is particularly evident in the way the pale blues of the sky seem to dissolve into the earthy tones of the foreground, creating a sense of atmospheric depth.Upon enlargement to 44×85, the chromatic structure of “Christ with Apostles and a Roman Soldier” reveals itself to be far more complex than initially apparent. The muted reds of the robes appear as a subtle counterpoint to the pale yellows of the stone buildings in the background, while the soft blues of the sky seem to recede further into the distance. This compositional structure behaves much like the spatial rhythm of a grand staircase, its gradual ascent and d