Christ Carrying the Cross

1475–90
(German, c.1450–1491)
Catalogue raisonné: Lehrs V.69.9
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The large size and composition of this engraving likely emulated a painting of the same subject by the artist Jan Van Eyck, now lost and known only though copies.

Description

This complex engraving depicts Christ's walk to Golgotha, the site of his Crucifixion. A crowd, depicted as violent and uncaring, moves across a rocky landscape. At the center of the procession, Christ has fallen under the weight of his huge cross. Martin Schongauer made Christ's gaze the only one directly confronting and involving the viewer in his anguish. Images like this functioned as devotional tools meant to help the faithful to meditate on Christ's suffering during his trial, torture, and execution.
Christ Carrying the Cross

Christ Carrying the Cross

1475–90

Martin Schongauer

(German, c.1450–1491)
Germany, 15th century

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