Christ Carrying the Cross

c. 1470

German 15th Century

Associated Names
This is a painting of multiple figures in historical attire. One central figure carries a heavy beam. The image depicts figures in medieval clothing, surrounding a central figure wearing a crown of thorns and bearing a wooden beam. The figures are tightly packed against a backdrop of a stone wall and a distant landscape. The colors are vivid with reds, blues, and earthy tones, framed by a red border. The style includes strong outlines and simple shading that emphasizes the expressions and postures of the figures. This style is akin to an early Renaissance or Late Gothic woodcut, often attributed to artists like Albrecht Dürer.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut in brown, hand-colored in blue, orange, red, yellow, rose, and gold

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.474

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, no. 355, State a (=352)


Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 21, repro.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

1965

  • Field, Richard S. Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1965: no. 21.

Wikidata ID

Q64952909

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