This Flagellation group, which is without question the most celebrated of all Roman baroque bronzes, is also one of the most discussed. Although the figure of Christ is always the same, two different pairs of Flagellators (Type A - as here - and Type B) are known. In spite of an early reference to such a group in Bellori's Life of Duquesnoy, both variants have traditionally been given to Algardi, an idea recently revived by Grabski (loc. cit.). By contrast, Jennifer Montagu (1967, loc. cit.) originally attributed Type A to Duquesnoy, and the Type B Flagellators to Algardi, noting the more active movement of the latter pair. She subsequently (1985, loc. cit.) attributed the model for the figure of Christ to Algardi, and dated his contribution to the 1630's. By contrast, Heimbürger Ravalli (loc. cit.) believes both groups to be by Duquesnoy.
There remains the question of why two versions were made at all, but it would certainly make more sense if they were by different artists. In that case it might be supposed that the sculptor of the second pair of Flagellators - whichever it was - was challenged to equal and, if possible, improve upon the original pair. The taste for artistic competition was certainly extremely prevalent in both the renaissance and the baroque periods, since many patrons believed that such formalised rivalry inspired artists to surpass themselves.