"... when the spirit of the Reformation rose into air, and the world's view changed, the art of painting saw Jesus in a different more spiritual way (...) The gospels didn't write about a Saviour who is sitting on the right side of the Father in heaven, but who is still alive among us, who comes and goes, who gives comfort to the sad and brings back the guilty. Look, he is standing in front of you (...) He is your good friend and your brother, he is the son of man" - wrote Károly Lyka in 1891.

The young art historian traced the influences that transformed religious art at the end of the 19th century back to the Reformation. During this era the seemingly indestructible unity of the Church and the State started to break down - mainly due to the emergence of nation-states - and this led to changes with the dogma and the traditions of Christian art. Certain verses of the Bible were reinterpreted and transformed to be more understandable to the present. There were several different schools of painting at this time, however the most popular was Oriental historicism, its main characteristic was a certain realism based on historical truth and a more psychological approach to the subject matter.

One artist who typically exemplifies this approach was Ernest Renan. In his book Jesus' Life who bravely opposes powerful forces in the name of faith and justice. This Christ became the eternal, always actual symbol of a man who is ready to sacrifice his own life for his warrior like actions.

This new view of the world as well as new artistic interpretations were not unknown to Munkácsy either, as he regularly visited Europe's major museums. Of the old masters, Rembrandt made the biggest impression on him, as he portrayed Jesus as a suffering human. In Holland he saw the work of Frans Hals, and admired it in the company of his German painter friends Fritz von Uhde and Max Liebermann. They too followed the new trend of representing Jesus as an everyday man in their paintings. Munkácsy's good friend was Lajos Haynald, archbishop of Kalocsa (Hungary), who also held liberal views and who wanted to reform the Church. Munkácsy received Renan's book from the art dealer Charles Sedelmeyer, with whom he had signed a ten year contract to paint and sell historical theme paintings among other things. However Sedelmeyer had seen more possibilities in the Christ theme, especially after Gustave Doré, the French painter had received amazing success especially in England with his monumental Christ paintings. The manner in which this subject matter was being portrayed had worldwide interest, and besides the Church was no longer such a great commissioner of art as it had been in previous centuries.