Christ Carrying the Cross

Tondi, or circular paintings, usually depicted images of the Holy Family or the Virgin and Child, making this example of Christ alone quite rare. Christ is shown at bust-length and looking out at the viewer while carrying the cross on which he will be crucified. The crown of thorns rests on his head while a rope is wrapped around his neck, alluding to the Roman soldiers who dragged him to his place of execution (see, for instance, Giovanni di Paolo’s narrative rendition of the subject at the Walters, 37.489). The frame, which is original, is decorated with an elaborate floral motif and the heads of cherubs, one of the highest orders of angels often represented as disembodied children. As tondi were generally found in domestic interiors, this painting likely served a private devotional function. It was produced in the third decade of the 1500s in the workshop of Garofalo, who ran one of the busiest workshops in Renaissance Ferrara.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 cat: no. 175; 1897 cat: no. 109, as Pinturicchio]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.