Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary

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Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary
ArtistRaphael
Yearc. 1514-1516
TypeOil on panel transferred to canvas
Dimensions318 cm × 229 cm (125 in × 90 in)
LocationMuseo del Prado, Madrid

Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, also known as Lo Spasimo or Il Spasimo di Sicilia, is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, of c. 1514–16,[1] now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It is an important work for the development of his style.

Description

It shows the common subject of

Vatican Palace, except reversed. Simon of Cyrene lifts Christ's cross momentarily and looks sternly at the guards. The four Marys are depicted on the right side of the painting and towering on either side of the composition are the guards.[3] The concept of, and devotion to, the "spasm" of the Virgin was fashionable, if somewhat controversial, in early-16th-century Catholicism, although in this work the Virgin has only fallen to her knees, not collapsed or fainted, as is often shown.[4]

History

The panel was commissioned by the

Vasari:

...As it was being borne by sea to Palermo, a great tempest cast the ship upon a rock, and it was broken to pieces, and the crew lost, and all the cargo, except this picture, which was carried in its case by the sea to Genoa. Here being drawn to shore, it was seen to be a thing divine, and was taken care of, being found uninjured, even the winds and waves in their fury respecting the beauty of such a work.[5]

As the news of this was spread abroad, the Sicilian monks sought to regain the miraculous painting, but they had to ask for the Pope's intercession to retrieve it. It was carried safely to Sicily, and placed in Palermo, where it acquired great fame.[6]

In 1661 the painting was acquired by the Spanish Viceroy Ferrando de Fonseca on behalf of King

booty during his war campaigns, and while there the painting was transferred to canvas, a practice much adopted in France during those times. After Paris, the picture (unlike many) was returned and finally re-integrated into the Spanish royal collections, later transferred to the Prado.[7]
Its present condition is not very good, mainly due to its change of support. However, its quality is clearer since cleaning and restoration in 2012.

In the past its status as a work by the hand of Raphael has been disputed, but it is now generally accepted as not merely designed but in large part painted by Raphael himself, no doubt with the usual workshop assistance for the easier areas.

Perhaps by royal commission, in 1674, Juan Carreño de Miranda executed this splendid copy of Raphaels original, which was exposed to the public on the main altar of the Convent of Santa Ana of barefoot Carmelites in Madrid. Carreño, renouncing his own style, much looser and more fluffy, faithfully follows the color, the finished invoice and the precise drawing of the original. It belongs and is at display at The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ c. 1514 according to Penny and other sources, but the Prado says 1515-1516, Prado website
  2. ^ Penny, 25–28
  3. Mondadori
    Arte (2008), p.120.
  4. ^ Penny, 26
  5. ^ G. Vasari, Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (in It. often shortened to Le Vite), 1568. Cf. full text online at STORIES FROM VASARI, "Raffaello", Ch. 183. The painting's Prado webpage states that, recently, questions have been raised as to the truthfulness of Vasari's narration of the shipwreck it suffered during its transportation. That story is considered too close to the miraculous circumstances surrounding the arrival of one of Sicily's most famous images —Trapani's Annunziata by Nino Pisano— during the Middle Ages [1]
  6. ^ Vasari, ibid., Ch. 183
  7. ^ P. De Vecchi, Raffaello, Rizzoli (1975), p.116.
  8. ^ Fernando, Real Academia de BBAA de San. "Carreño de Miranda, Juan / Sanzio, Rafael (copia de) - Camino del Calvario (". Academia Colecciones (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2020.

Bibliography

External links