The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 11, 2026

A relief sculpture in alabaster, a cream-colored stone with brown veining, depicts Christ hunched under a massive cross. To our left, Saint Simon pushes the beam upward, while Saint Veronica kneels before Christ holding a cloth with both hands. Figures with deeply draped garments crowd our right, their forms emerging from the translucent stone. At the top left, a stone building is carved in low relief, grounding the scene's diagonal movement and physical strain.

Christ Carrying the Cross with Saints Simon and Veronica

c. 1545

workshop of Jacques Dubroeucq

(Netherlandish, 1500/10–1584)
South Netherlands, Hainault, 16th century
alabaster
Overall: 61.6 x 54 x 11.5 cm (24 1/4 x 21 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1971.5
Location: 114 Late Northern Renaissance

Description

As Christ dragged his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, Veronica wiped sweat from Christ’s face, which was miraculously imprinted on the fabric. This relief probably came from a choir screen, a barrier between the altar and the congregation, common in medieval churches. Yet the sculpture is more classical than medieval. The artist, yet to be identified, clearly knew the work of Dubreoucq, an artist who brought a taste for Italian Renaissance sculpture to northern France and present-day Belgium. The use of alabaster instead of marble exploits a material local to this part of Europe.
  • (Jacques Seligmann and Co., Inc., (New York, New York), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1971.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 122 archive.org
    George, Philippe. Art et Patrimoine en Wallonie des Origines à 1789: Essai de Synthèse à la Lumière des Collections Américaines et Européennes. Namur: Institut du Patrimoine Wallon, 2017. Mentioned: p. 307
  • Object in Focus: Christ Carrying the Cross from the workshop of Jacques Du Broeucq. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 2-April 4, 1999).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; April 6 - June 6, 1999. "Object in Focus: Christ Carrying the Cross from the workshop of Jacques Du Broeucq."
    Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
  • {{cite web|title=Christ Carrying the Cross with Saints Simon and Veronica|url=false|author=Jacques Dubroeucq|year=c. 1545|access-date=11 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.5