# Carrying the Cross [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SCHONGAUER, Martin]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Engraving, 285 x 428 mm ## Commentary Carrying the Cross c. 1474 Engraving, 285 x 428 mm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg Martin Schongauer was the first major painter who also created engravings. Although more widely recognized for his prints, he was a highly successful painter in Colmar and in nearby Breisach. As a result, he brought a more pictorial aesthetic to his prints, as evident in his largest ad most ambitious engraving, Christ Carrying the Cross. In a sweeping arc from Jerusalem towards Golgotha, over fifty figures proceed through the rocky landscape. At the centre Christ falls under the weight of the cross. Anecdotal details abound: some people jeer, some talk with each other and others stare curiously. A consistent lighting unifies the entire scene, varying from intense whites through a range of greys to deep blacks, especially around Christ. Christ Carrying the Cross, with its busy narrative and deep landscape owes a debt to Netherlandish painting, and, secondarily, to a lost Van Eyck composition. ## Related artworks - [A Foolish Virgin]() - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Annunciate Angel]() - [Annunciate Madonna]() - [Apprentices Fighting]() - [Betrayal and Capture of Christ]() - [Censer]() - [Christ on the Cross with Four Angels]() - [Elephant]() - [Entombment]() - [Madonna and Child in a Rose Arbour]() - [Madonna and Child in the Couryard]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()