Follower of SEBASTIANO DEL PIOMBO (Venice, 1485 - Rome, 1547).
"Christ with cross-bearer".
Oil on pine panel.
It has restorations and repainting.
Measurements: 77 x 65 cm.
In this canvas the author captures one of the most dramatic moments of the Via Crucis, the moment in which Christ supports the weight of the cross. In this episode it is common to see Simon the Cyrenean helping Jesus to carry the cross, or Veronica offering him a cloth to wipe his face clean of blood and sweat. However, the author of this canvas dispenses with these figures and seeks no theological meaning other than that of Christ's own suffering and voluntary sacrifice on behalf of humanity. In fact, this supreme generosity is reinforced by Jesus' own gaze, which avoids ours, turning to one side, towards something we do not see because it is outside the painting. On the other hand, compositionally, everything is designed to enhance the figure of Christ. It should be noted that the piece aesthetically follows the aesthetic precepts set by the painter Sebastiano Piombo, specifically those established with his work "Christ Carrying the Cross", painted between 1532 and 1535, which is now in the art collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Sebastiano del Piombo (Venice, ca. 1485/1486-Rome, 1547). He trained with Giovanni Bellini and Giorgione, whose influence is evident in his early work, which dates from 1505 and is surprising for its compositional and iconographic innovations. Works such as the Judgement of Solomon (Bankes Collection, Kingston Lacy), Saint John Chrysostom with Saints (Saint John Chrysostom, Venice), the organ doors of the church of San Bartolomeo in Rialto and Salome (National Gallery, London) established Sebastiano as the most influential and talented Venetian painter after Giorgione's death in 1510 and before the definitive emergence of Titian. However, in August 1511 he accepted Agostino Chigi's invitation to move to Rome, where he spent the rest of his life, except for sporadic absences. Between 1511 and the Saco of 1527 was the most prolific period of his career. His first Roman work was the fresco decoration of the lunettes in the loggia of the garden of the Villa de Chigi, later known as "La Farnesina", including Polyphemus, painted in the Giorgionesque manner without a preliminary drawing. Around 1512 he also painted Cardinal Ferry Carondelet with his secretary (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid), in which the model is shown for the first time in Italy engaged in an occupation, and The Death of Adonis (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence), which reveals his knowledge of Michelangelo and Raphael. Sebastiano's relationship with both was uneven, and while he had an open rivalry with Raphael, he enjoyed the friendship of Michelangelo, who provided him with models, for example for the Pietà (Museo Civico, Viterbo), one of his masterpieces, executed between 1513 and 1516 and commissioned by Cardinal Giovanni Botonti. Michelangelo is also known to have supplied him with designs for the paintings in the Borgherini chapel in San Pietro in Montorio (Rome), and for the Resurrection of Lazarus (National Gallery, London), commissioned in 1516 by Cardinal Julius de' Medici, the future Clement VII.