Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – The Carrying of the Cross

Giotto, Via Crucis
Italian, c. 1304-1308
Padua, Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel



"Then Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha."

(John 19:16-17, Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ According to John, Reading for Good Friday)


Every one of the Gospels includes the story of the Carrying of the Cross, though they differ slightly in one detail. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) include the story of Simon the Cyrenean, a man plucked from the street to carry the cross, presumably because Jesus was so weakened by the tortures He had received that He was unable to bear that burden by Himself. The writer of the Gospel of John seems to have considered this a somewhat irrelevant detail and is, in fact, at pains to state that Jesus carried the cross Himself. Tradition has conflated the two points of view and insists that both things happened. Jesus began carrying the cross Himself, but that after falling several times (a detail not found in any Gospel) Simon was impressed by the soldiers to carry the heavy load.

Images of the Carrying of the Cross (also called the Via Crucis) can generally be divided into two categories: narrative images and devotional images. The narrative images relate at least some of the details of the journey to Calvary (Golgotha) and involve other individuals. The specific incidents and number of people involved vary considerably, however. It may be as few as one person or a cast of thousands.  

The devotional image, however, is much simpler and quieter. It generally involves the action of only two individuals – Jesus with his cross and the viewer who gazes on the painting. Jesus is posed in a solitary space, usually against a simple background, though sometimes in a landscape. It is to some extent a vision of Christ close in spirit, if not in form, to an icon. It is for contemplation and prayer.


Narrative Images

The earliest images we have showing Christ carrying the cross come from the fourth century, shortly after the Christian Church emerged from the fear of persecution by the Roman authorities.  However, the earliest we have has a twist.  It isn't Jesus whom we see carrying the cross.  Rather, it is Simon the Cyrenian, accompanied by a Roman soldier who carries the cross.   The figure of Jesus isn't there.  He is, however, shown in another panel of the sarcophagus frontal having a crown of thorns held above his head.  


Front of a Sarcophagus with Scenes from the Passion of Christ
Roman, c. 350
Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Cristiano



Gradually, Jesus was shown carrying the cross himself although, at this point, the cross is more symbolic than real.  But it does include narrative elements.  Jesus strides away from Pilate, who is shown in the act of washing his hands, and toward Saint Peter, who sits by the fire, his identity reinforced by the presence of the servant girl and the rooster. 


Ivory Panel from a Casket
Late Roman, c. 420-430
London, 
© Trustees of the British Museum



In the course of the Middle Ages Jesus continued to carry the cross, which gained in size and apparent weight very slowly.


Jesus Carrying the Cross
From a Picture Bible
French (St. Omer, c. 1190-1200
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 76 F 5, fol. 20v



Jesus Carrying the Cross
From a Psalter
French (Paris), c. 1200-1225
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS NAF 1392, fol. 10v




Jesus Carrying the Cross
From the Carrow Psalter-Hours
English (East Anglia), c. 1250
Baltimore, Walther Art Museum
MS W.34, fol. 27r 



Jesus Carrying the Cross
From Livre d'images de Christ et des saints
Flemish (Hainaut), c.1285-1290
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
NAF 16251, fol. 37v



Jesus Scourged and Jesus Carrying the Cross
From a Vie de saints
French (Paris), c. 1325-1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 185, fol. 10v


Over the course of the fourteenth century, the cross began to gain in dimension and weight, although not everywhere at the same time.


Simone Martini, Jesus Carrying the Cross
Italian, 1333
Paris, Musée du Louvre 



Richaard de Montbaston, Jesus Carrying the Cross and the Crucifixion
From a Legenda aurea by Jacopo de Voragine
French (Paris), 1348
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 241, fol. 87r



Jesus Carrying the Cross
From a Psalter
English (Salisbury), c 1350-1375
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 765, fol. 13




Jesus Carrying the Cross
From a Vies de la Vierge et du Christ
Italian (Naples), c. 1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9561, fol. 175v



Jean le Noir, Jesus Carrying the Cross Meets His Mother
From the Petites Heures of Jean de Berry
French (Bourges), c. 1385-1390
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 18014, fol. 86v



From the beginning of the fifteenth century, the new-found realism of the emerging Renaissance style began to increase the weight and size of the cross and to show Jesus struggling under it.


The Boucicaut Master, Jesus Carrying the Cross with Help from Simon of Cyrene
From the Heures de Jeanne Bessonnelle
French (Paris), c. 1400-1425
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 1161, fol. 168r




Jesus Carrying the Cross with Help from Simon of Cyrene
From the Hours of Louis de Savoy
French (Savoy), c. 1445-1460
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9473, fol. 98v



Jesus Carrying the Cross
German, c. 1451-1500
Lieberhausen, Evangelical Church





Master Francois and Workshop, Jesus Falls While Carrying the Cross
From a Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais
French (Paris), 1463
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 50, fol 231v



Hans Memling, Scenes from the Passion (detail)
Flemish, c. 1470-1471
Turin, Galleria Sabauda



Jean Colombe, Jesus Carrying the Cross with Help from Simon
From a Vita Jesu Christi by Ludolf of Saxony
French (Bourges), c. 1480-1485
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 179, fol. 113v




Giovanni Antonio de Sacchis, known as Pordonone
Italian, 1520
Cremona, Cathedral





Matthias Grünwald, Jesus Falls While Carrying the Cross
German, c. 1523-1524
Karlsruhe, Kunsthalle



Pieter de Jode after Maarten de Vos, Jesus Carrying the Cross
From Thesaurus Novi Testamenti elegantissimus iconibus expressus continens historias atque miracula domini nostri Jesu Christi
Flemish, c.1580
  London,© Trustees of the British Museum




The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries seemed to lose interest in the narrative of Christ's journey to Calvary, focusing on devotional images, as we will see.  It wasn't until the eighteenth century that narrative began to reappear. 






Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Christ Falls While Carrying the Cross
Italian, c. 1737-1738
Venice, Church of Sant'Alvise



Corrado Giaquinto, Jesus Falls While Carrying the Cross
Italian, 1754
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado




James Tissot, Jesus Begins to Carry the Cross
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum




Sometimes artists submerged the action of carrying the cross in a vast quantity of other incidents going on at the same time.  Often it is almost impossible to see the Biblical event.


Hieronymous Bosch
Dutch, 1480s
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum





After Joachim Bueckelaer, Marketplace, with the Flagellation, the Ecce Homo and the Bearing of the Cross in the Background
Flemish, c. 1550-1590
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum



Perhaps the best known of these images is that of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. In keeping with some other images by him, the actual event seems almost buried among the day-to-day goings on of the indifferent world.


Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Flemish, 1564
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum




Devotional Images


Devotional images seem to develop out of the narrative images that were focused closely on the figure of Jesus.  However, the devotional images strip away the other actors, the soldiers, women, bystanders and present only the image of Jesus.  He stands alone with the cross, offered for our prayerful consideration.



Alvise Vivarini, Christ with the Cross
Italian, No Date (died in 1503)
Venice, Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo



Girolamo Marchesi da Cotignola, Christ with the Cross
Italian, c. 1520-1526
Avignon, Musée du Petit Palais




Jan Gossaert, Christ with the Cross
Flemish, c. 1520-1525
New  York, Metropolitan Museum of Art




Vincenzo Catena, Christ with the Cross
Italian, c. 1520s
Vienna, The Liechenstein Museum




Michiel Coxie, Christ with the Cross
Flemish, c.1555
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado



El Greco, Christ with the Cross
Greco-Spanish, 1577-1587
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection




El Greco, Christ with the Cross
Greco-Spanish, 1602
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado



Luca Giordano, Christ with the Cross
Italian, c.1697
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado




Combined Images

There are a few images that seem to combine elements of both the narrative and the devotional. Among them are works by Hieronymous Bosch and Titian. These works include the multiple figures of the narrative, but presented in a way that opens us up to the same contemplation and prayer as the quieter devotional works. Sometimes there is an almost claustrophobic character to them that is unpleasant for the viewer. In this way, the painter may have hoped to arouse feelings of empathy in Christ’s pain in our own hearts.


Hieronymous Bosch, Jesus Carrying the Cross
Dutch, c. 1515-1516
Ghent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten
Bosch has made the surrounding characters as grotesque and agitated as possible to contrast with the quiet, balanced face of Jesus.




Lorenzo Lotto, Jesus Carrying the Cross
Italian, 1526
Paris,  Musée du Louvre




Jan Sanders van Hemessen, Jesus Carrying the Cross
Flemish, 1553
Esztergom (HU), Christian Museum



Juan de Valdez Leal, Jesus Carrying the Cross
Spanish, c. 1660
Madrid, Museo Nacaional del Prado





Images for Contemplation


While these images contrast the brutality of the those who force Jesus onward to the end, there are other images of additional figures that, in their sympathetic participation in the journey Jesus is making, form a bridge between his pain and our emotional response.


Sebastiano del Piombo, Simon of Cyrene Helps to Carry the Cross
Italian, c. 1516
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado





Titian. Simon of Cyrene Helps to Carry the Cross
Italian, c. 1560
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado




Titian, Simon of Cyrene Helps to Carry the Cross
Italian, c. 1570-1575
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado





Orazio Gentileschi, A Woman Offers Comfort to Jesus
Italian, c. 1605-1607
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
It is not clear who this woman may be.  She is not Mary, his mother, but she could be Mary Magdalene or one of the women who were at the foot of the cross or one of the women of Jerusalem commemorated in the eighth Station of the Cross.  She could also be the personification of the Christian soul, as we shall see below.


Some of these images included allegorical figures explicitly representing the Christian soul contemplating the sufferings of Jesus.  




Felipe Diriksen, Christ Carrying the Cross, contemplated by Mary and the Christian Soul_
Spanish, c. 1360-1650
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado




The Christian Soul Accepting the Cross
Spanish, c. 1630
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado


These final images take us completely out of the realm of history into a purely contemplative world view.  

Nevertheless, all 
the images of Jesus carrying the cross make worthy starting points for meditation on this Mystery.

© M. Duffy, 2013.  Pictures refreshed and new material added, 2024.


Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.




Tuesday, March 26, 2024

The Third Sorrowful Mystery – The Crowning with Thorns


Caravaggio, Crowning with thorns
Italian, 1602
Vicenza, Banca Popolare di Vicenza




"And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly."
(John 19:2-3)




It has always seemed to me that the decades of the Rosary are structured in a very defined way. Like the most important intervals in the musical scale, the first, third and fifth decades of each series of Mysteries have always seemed to focus on the most important of the scenes that they bring to memory. In the Joyful Mysteries the third is the Birth of Jesus. In the Glorious Mysteries the third is the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). It seems, therefore, odd that the third of the Sorrowful Mysteries is not the Crucifixion, but the Crowning with Thorns. For example, I can easily imagine a scenario in which the Crucifixion is the third, followed by the Descent from the Cross and the Entombment.
 
 

But, on reflection, I realized that the traditional list of the Sorrowful Mysteries actually does make sense. The Crowning with Thorns has something very important to teach us. For, the cruel mockery devised by the Roman soldiers is the inversion and perversion of the actual truth. In their twisted way they demonstrate the reality they did not recognize. Jesus is a king, greater than any they could imagine. His kingdom, as he told Pilate, is not of this world and it is achieved, not through dealing out violence as a conqueror, but through receiving the violence of his tormentors; not through self-aggrandizement, but through humiliation; not through subjecting others but in subjecting His human will to the Father’s divine will. It is, therefore, indeed the pinnacle of the Sorrowful Mysteries, that makes sense of the two preceding mysteries and of the two that follow it.

The iconography of the subject of the crowning with thorns is related to three other subjects that I discussed in 2012: the Mocking of Christ, the Ecce Homo and the Man of Sorrows. All three of these subjects, however, look at Jesus following the crowning. Here I will look at some pictures that show the action of the crowning.


The earliest image of the Crowning with Thorns comes from a Roman sarcophagus from the cemetery of Domitilla.  Its depiction of the event is more symbolic than realistic.  It depicts a serene Christ standing at ease, while a Roman soldier holds the crown of thorns above his head.  

Sarcophagus with Scenes from the Passion of Christ
Roman, c. 350
Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio-Cristiano


This serenity continued into the Middle Ages.  Early images were often static, showing Christ seated, while two soldiers are posed as if attempting to force the thorns more deeply into his head.  Often this is done by using long poles which the soldiers pull and push to drive the thorns in.  The use of poles instead of hands or shorter clubs emphasizes how dangerous and cruel these thorns were


Crowing with Thorns
From a Psalter
German (Magdeburg), c. 1265
Munich, Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek
MS Clm 23094, fol. 50v




Master Henri, The Crowning with Thorns
From Livre d'images de Madame Marie
Flemish (Hainaut), c. 1285-1290
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS NAF 16251, fol. 35v



The Crowning with thorns
From Speculum humanae salvationis
France (Alsace), 1370-1380
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 511, fol. 21v (detail)




The Crowning with Thorns
From Pelerinage du Jesu-Christ by Guillaume de Degulleville
French (Rennes), c. 1425-1450
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 376, fol. 216r



The Crowning with Thorns
Austrian, c. 1395-1405
Heiligenkreuz (AT), Monastery Collection




The Crowning with Thorns
Austrian, c. 1465
Mühlbachl (AT), Pilgrimage Church of Maria Waldrest




However, beginning in the fourteenth century, the number of tormentors begins to increase, as does the level of violence.  Whereas, in the earlier compositions, the two tormentors were posed in a balanced arrangement, with one on each side and Jesus in the middle, now they are posed more unevenly.  One tormentor is frequently moved to stand or squat in front of Jesus.  The scene becomes one of the entire theme of the mocking of Christ than just the isolated event of the crowning with thorns.  


Giotto, The Mocking of Christ
Italian, c. 1304-1308
Padua, Scrovegni/Arena Chapel




Duccio, The Mocking of Christ
Italian, c. 1308-1311
Siena, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo




Master of the Vigilius Legend, The Mocking of Christ
Italian, c. 1395-1400
Sarnthein (IT), Church of Saint Cyprian




Christ Crowned with Thorns Before Caiaphas
From a Voyage d'outre mer by Sir John Mandeville
Czech, c. 1410-1420
London, British Library
MS Add. 24189, fol. 12r




The Mocking of Christ
Italian, c. 1464
Mellaun (IT), Church of Saint John the Evangelist





Master of the Freisinger Passion, The Crowning with Thorns
German, c. 1480-1490
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlungen, Staatsgalerie in der Burg zu Burghausen





The Mocking of Christ
German, c. 1490-1510
Tirschenreuth (DE), Cathedral of the Assumption




Master of the Dresden Prayerbook, The Crowning with Thorns and the Ecce Homo
From the Breviary of Queen Isabella of Castille
Flemish, c. 1497
London, British Library
MS Additional 18851, fol. 103v



Over time, painters increased the amount of difference between the face of the suffering Christ and the brutal, even bestial faces of the soldiers.

Circle of Rueland Frueauf, The Crowning with Thorns
Austrian, c. 1500-1510
Regensburg, Museum der Stadt Regensburg


The Crowning with Thorns
German, c. 1500
Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, Church of Saint Gertuaud




Hans Holbein the Elder, The Mocking of Christ
From the Karlsheimer Altar
German, 1502
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlunger, Alte Pinakothek



Hans Holbein the Elder, The Mocking of Christ
German, c. 1504
Augsburg, Staatsgalerie im Schaezler-Palais




Hans Schäufelin, The Mocking of Christ
German, c. 1506-1507
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie dere Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin



Hans Nagl, The Mocking of Christ
German, c. 1515-1525
Ingolstadt (DE), Church of Our Lady
The style in which this early 16th century painter has depicted the figures of Christ and the soldiers is an astonishing forshadowing of the style  of some early 20th century German Expressionists, in particular those who formed the group known as Die Brucke (The Bridge), such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Emil Nolde and others. *




Christ Crowned with Thorns
German, c. 1520
Institute of Material Culture of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, Austria
CC BY-NC-ND.




Christ crowned with thorns
German, c. 1525-1530
Heldsdorf (RO), Church




Hans Schäufelin, The Mocking of Christ
German, c. 1525-1530
Augsburg, Staatsgalerie im Schäzler-Palais



Pierre Reymond, The Mocking of Christ
French (Limoges), c. 1535-1540
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art




Lambert van Noort, The Crowing with Thorns
Flemish, Mid-16th Century
Antwerp, Musée Royale des Beaux-Arts



Hans Mielich, The Mocking of Christ
German, c. 1530-1572
Ingolstadt (DE), Church of Our Lady



Jan Sadeler, The Mocking of Christ
Flemish, c. 1570-1590
Braunschweig (DE), Harzog Anton Ulrich Museum



Otto van Veen, The Mocking of Christ
Flemish, c. 1590-1629
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Staatsgalerie Neuburg




Beginning with the work of Hieronymous Bosch, the focus of the depictions of the Crowning with Thorns moved closer to the subject, closer to the figure of Jesus and of the faces of those who are torturing him.   Sometimes this focus could be very close indeed, giving the viewer a sense of participation as a witness to the event.



Hieronymus Bosch, The Mocking of Christ
Dutch, c. 1495-1500
El Escorial, Monasterio de San Lorenzo




Hieronymous Bosch, Christ Crowned with Thorns
Dutch, c. 1495-1500
London, National Gallery



However, the earliest of these images still retain something of the static quality of the medieval images.  They are more representations of cruelty and pain, than accurate pictures of these emotions.




Titian appears to have revised this, as he revised so many other images. In his several images of the crowning he introduces, through effects of light and shadow and motion, recognition of the pain that this act must have caused and of the violence of the attack.


Titian, The Crowning with thorns
Italian, 1542
Paris, Musée du
 Louvre



Titian, The Crowning with thorns
Italian, c. 1572-1576
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakotek





These elements were picked up on by his younger north Italian compatriot, Caravaggio and, through his followers, to the greater European context. 


Caravaggio or a Follower, The Crowning with thorns
Italian, c. 1602-1603
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum





Bartolomeo Manfredi, The Crowning with Thorns
Italian, c. 1600-1622
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlungen, Staatsgalerie im Neuen Schleissheim





Artists who followed the shadowy style set by Caravaggio, who were called the Caravaggisti, began to use their shadowy compositions to study the effect of light in darkness.  The subject of  Christ's tortures, which took place at night, was an especially appropriate one to use to experiment with the effects of artificial light on the human and inanimate forms in their depictions.  This was especially true of artists from northern Europe.  





Leonello Spada, The Mocking of Christ
Italian, c. 1615
Rome, Palazzo Barberini




Valentin de Boulogn, The Mocking of Christ
French, c. 1616-1617
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek





Anthony van Dyck, The Crowning with thorns
Flemish, c. 1618-1620
Rome, Galleria Corsini





Anthony van Dyck, The Crowning with thorns
Flemish, c. 1618-1620
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado






Hendrick Terbrugghen, The Mocking of Christ
Dutch, 1620
Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst



Gerrit van Honthorst, Christ Crowned with Thorns
Dutch, c. 1620
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum





Valentin de Boulogne, The Crowning with thorns
French, c. 1627-1628
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakotek







Jan Willem Janssens
Flemish, c. 1650
Ghent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten




Jan Willem Janssens, The Mocking of Christ
Flemish, c. 1650
Toilouse, Musée des Augustins




Samuel van Hoogstraten, Christ Crowned with Thorns
Dutch, 1657
Munich, Bayerische Staatgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek





David Teniers the Younger, The Mocking of Christ
Flemish, c. 1660-1690
Munich, Bayerische Staatgemäldesammlungen, Staatsgalerie Neuburg





Jacob van Oost the Elder,The Mocking of Christ
Flemish, 1661
Bruges, Groeninge Museum




Carlo Antonio Bussi, The Mocking of Christ
Italian, 1690
Voecklabruck (AT), Church of Saint Agidius



Francesco Trevisani, The Mocking of Christ
Italian, c. 1696
Rome, Galleria Colonna




It was this heightened, emotionally charged image that continued to be transmitted within European art, down to the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.




James Tissot, The Crowning with Thorns
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum



Emil Nolde, The Mocking of Christ
German, 1909
Berlin, Brucke-Museum




Georges Rouault, Christ Mocked by Soldiers
French, 1932
New York, Museum of Modern Art
© 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York- ADAGP, Paris





 
Otto Dix, The Mocking of Christ
From Das Evangelium nach Matthäus
German, 1960
Private Collection





© M. Duffy, 2013.  Revised and expanded, with additional images 2024.


*  Some examples for the similarity of style that come to mind are:

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner


Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, The Street, Dresden
German, 1908
New York, Museum of Modern Art



Emil Nolde


Emil Nolde, The Crucifixion
German, 1912
Neukirchen, Stiftung Seebull Ada and Emil Nolde




Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Kristus (Christ)
German, 1919
New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery


One could make a case that the flattened, jagged forms in German Expressionism are only a more recent occurrence of forms that are native to German art, jazzed up with some quotations from African art like those in some of the early works of Picasso.  

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.