''Christ Bearing the Cross'' is a painting in

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

attributed to the Greek painter

Nikolaos Tzafouris Nikolaos Tzafouris ( el, Νικόλαος Ζαφούρης η Τζαφούρης; 1468–1501), also Niccolo, Niccolò, Niccolö, Zafuri, Zafuris, was a Greek Renaissance painter. He was one of the founders of the Cretan School. He was influenc ...

. Tzafouris is considered one of the founding members of the

Cretan School Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, under the umbrella of post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becom ...

along with

Andreas Ritzos Andreas Ritzos ( el, Ανδρέας Ρίτζος 1421-1492) also known as (Rico, Ricio, Rizo). He was a Greeks, Greek icon painter, from Crete. Ritzos is considered one of the founding fathers of the Cretan School. He was affiliated with Angel ...

Andreas Pavias Andreas Pavias ( el, Ανδρέας Παβίας 1440-1504/1512) was a Greek painter and educator. He was one of the founding fathers of the Cretan School, and his works influenced countless artists both Italian and Greek; paintings by Pavias coul ...

, and

Angelos Akotantos Angelos Akotantos (Greek: Άγγελος Ακοτάντος 1390-1457) was a Greek painter, educator, and protopsaltis. He painted in the Byzantine style or maniera greca. He represented the transition from the Byzantine style of painting to the m ...

. He was influenced by

. According to the

Institute of Neohellenic Research An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

, thirteen paintings are attributed to Tzafouris. Active between 1480 and 1501, Tzafouris had a workshop in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

, where he painted religious themes for local churches. His most notable works are the '' Madre della Consolazione'' and ''Christ Bearing the Cross''. The painting is a mixture of Italian and Greek Byzantine prototypes; it follows the traditional ''

maniera greca Italo-Byzantine is a style term in art history, mostly used for medieval paintings produced in Italy under heavy influence from Byzantine art. It initially covers religious paintings copying or imitating the standard Byzantine icon types, but pa ...

'' and was influenced by

Venetian painting Venetian painting was a major force in Italian Renaissance painting and beyond. Beginning with the work of Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516) and his brother Gentile Bellini (c. 1429–1507) and their workshops, the major artists of the Venetian ...

. ''Christ Bearing the Cross'' is in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York.

Description

The work is painted in egg tempera with gold leaf on wood with dimensions of 69.2 cm (27.25 in) x 54.6 cm (21.5 in). The icon was finished towards the end of the 15th century. Christ is shown carrying a cross. The scene is the traditional

Golgotha Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

portion of the Crucifixion sequence. The soldiers on the right are dressed in armor modeled after Venetian attire, while the soldiers on the left of the painting wear Byzantine- or Cretan-styled armor. The soldiers' attire is painted in exquisite detail. The Italian Renaissance painting style closely resembles the

sfumato Sfumato (, ) is a painting technique for softening the transition between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human eye is focusing on, or the out-of-focus plane. It is one of the canonical painting modes of the Renaissance. Leonardo da V ...

technique. The artist is trying to escape the typical flattened surface prevalent within the Byzantine-influenced ''maniera greca''. Tzafouris attempts to create the illusion of a foreground and a background. The gilded background further accentuates the figures and landscape. The geometric shape of the mountain is reminiscent of

Michael Damaskinos Michael Damaskenos or Michail Damaskenos ( el, Μιχαήλ Δαμασκηνός, 1530/35–1592/93) was a leading post-Byzantine Cretan painter. He is a major representative of the Cretan School of painting that flourished in the 16th and 1 ...

's ''

Adoration of the Kings The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the Biblical Magi, three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by fol ...

''. The painting features Latin and Greek inscriptions. There are five icons signed by the author that survived; ''Christ Bearing the Cross'' is one of them. Hatzidakis, 1987, pp. 292–294 Michael Damaskenos Adoration of the Kings

Michael Damaskenos Adoration of the Kings

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Authority control Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Paintings depicting Christ carrying the cross Cretan Renaissance paintings