Christ On The Cross Drawing

Skip to Content

Christ Carrying the Cross

• 

Christ Carrying the Cross

Date:

about 1515/1517

Artist:

Sebastiano del Piombo
Italian, about 1485–1547

About this artwork

This painting by represents one of the most popular compositions invented by one of the most distinguished painters working in Rome during the High Renaissance. In the 1510s, following an early period in Venice, Sebastiano del Piombo traveled to Rome, where he was drawn into the lively atmosphere of competition between the two great luminaries of the period, Michelangelo Buonarroti and Raphael. Michelangelo took Sebastiano under his wing, teaching him his monumental style and providing drawings for some of Sebastiano's major commissions. Following Raphael's death in 1520, the painter and historian Giorgio Vasari stated that
"first place in the art of painting was unanimously granted by all, thanks to the favor of Michelangelo, to Sebastiano."

Christ Carrying the Cross draws upon recent developments of an enormously popular iconography by artists including Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, and Andrea Mantegna, among others. Here, Simon of Cyrene assists Jesus, emphasizing the heavy weight of the cross on his shoulders. A Roman soldier stands behind, his jeering face just visible in the darkness. In the background, the tightly packed composition opens up onto a crowd assembling at the foot of the hill of Golgotha, with two crosses barely visible. The luminous landscape is a hallmark of the artist's Venetian training. The painting's dramatic visual impact is a result of the powerful diagonals of the cross; the dynamic, almost sculptural quality of Christ's clothing; and the pathos of his expression.

The popularity of Sebastiano's composition is reflected in the number of surviving variants that he created over the course of his career. The Art Institute's version is an autograph replica of a painting—now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid—made for Jerónimo Vich y Valterra, the Spanish ambassador to Rome. Other versions survive in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg; the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales, Madrid; and the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest.

Status

On View, Gallery 205

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Sebastiano del Piombo

Title

Christ Carrying the Cross

Date

1515–1517

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

118 × 92 cm (46 7/16 × 36 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Lacy Armour, Ada Turnbull Hertle, Mary Swissler Oldberg Acquisition, Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection funds; Wirt D. Walker Trust; Alyce and Edwin DeCosta and the Walter E. Heller Foundation Fund; Estate of Walter Aitken; Frederick W. Renshaw Acquisition, Marian and Samuel Klasstorner funds; Edward E. Ayer Fund in Memory of Charles L. Hutchinson; Lara T. Magnuson Acquisition, Director's funds; Samuel A. Marx Purchase Fund for Major Acquisitions; Edward Johnson, Maurice D. Galleher Endowment, Simeon B. Williams, Capital Campaign General Acquisitions, Wentworth Greene Field Memorial, Samuel P. Avery, Morris L. Parker, Irving and June Seaman Endowment, and Betty Bell Spooner funds

Reference Number

2016.15

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/234781/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

• José López-Rey, "Vicente Macip, Sebastiano del Piombo et l'esprit tridentin," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 78 (1971), p. 353 n. 4.
• José Gómez Frechina and Nicola Jennings, eds., Sebastiano del Piombo: Christ Carrying the Cross, Colnaghi Studies 1 (London and Madrid: Colnaghi, 2016), ff., figs. 1, 41, 65-7.

New York, Carlton Hobbs LLC, A Joint Exhibition of Old Master Paintings, Sculptures and Decorative Arts Together with Colnaghi and Tomasso Brothers, January 21-30, 2016, no cat. no.

Ochoa-Herrera family, Calle Muñoz y Garnica, Jaén, Spain, by at least 1956 but probably earlier [according to e-mail correspondence of February 19 and 26, 2016, between David Durán and Rebecca Long; copy in curatorial file. See also photograph of painting from 1956, labeled "collection of the widow Ochoa" and "Jaén," in Arxiu Mas, Barcelona; copy in curatorial file]; sold by the family to Durán Arte y Subastas, Madrid, May 27, 2015, lot no. 78; bought by Goldengate Arts Ltd., Dublin [according to export license of July 23, 2015; copy in curatorial file]; sold to Colnaghi/Coll y Cortés, London and Madrid, October 2015 [according to e-mail correspondence of February 8, 2016, between Jorge Coll and Rebecca Long; copy in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2016.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Explore Further

• Most Similar
• Painting
• Sebastiano del Piombo
• 1400–1600
• All Tags

Related artworks

• Scenes from the Life of Saint John the Baptist, 1490/95
  Bartolomeo di Giovanni
• The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1495
  Raffaello Botticini
• Fragment from Christ Carrying the Cross: Saint John the Evangelist, 1500/05
  Jean Hey, (the Master of Moulins)
• Virgin and Child with Two Angels, 1465/75
  Francesco Botticini
• Entombment, 1500/05
  German School
• Saint Matthias (?) and a Donor; Saint Andrew (reverse), 1520/25
  Workshop of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen
• Saint Peter and a Donor; Saint Thomas (reverse), 1520/25
  Workshop of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen
• Christ on the Living Cross, 1420/30
  Master of Saint Veronica
• Portrait of a Man, 1565/70
  School of Anthonis Mor
• Portrait of a Gentleman, c. 1505
  Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
• Saint John the Baptist Entering the Wilderness, 1455/60
  Giovanni di Paolo
• Ecce Agnus Dei, 1455/60
  Giovanni di Paolo

Christ On The Cross Drawing

Source: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/234781/christ-carrying-the-cross

Posted by: terrellsuaing.blogspot.com

Share this post