''Christ Carrying the Cross'' (also ''Ecce Homo'') is an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

attributed to either

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

Giorgione Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic qualit ...

. It is dated to about 1505. The painting is housed in the

Scuola Grande di San Rocco The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a building in Venice, northern Italy. It is noted for its collection of paintings by Tintoretto and generally agreed to include some of his finest work. History The building is the seat of a confraternity establ ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, Italy. There are several later versions of the subject by Titian.

History

The painting is mentioned in several historical documents, since it has been the subject of veneration and devotion, due to its alleged miraculous properties. It was originally located in the church of San Rocco, annexed to the eponymous ''Scuola'' where it is now, although it is unknown if it was on a pillar near the high altar or in a side chapel. The attribution of the work has been disputed since the 16th century:

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

in both the first (1550) and second (1568) edition of his ''

Lives Lives may refer to: * The plural form of a ''life'' * Lives, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran * The number of lives in a video game * '' Parallel Lives'', aka ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', a series of biographies of famous m ...

'' assigns it to Giorgione and Titian at the same time. Further, both Titian and Giorgione had a connection with the guild which held the church and the ''Scuola''; Giorgione was a friend of painter

Vincenzo Catena Vincenzo Catena (c. 1480–1531) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance Venetian school. He is also known as Vincenzo de Biagio. Life Nothing is known of the date and place of Catena's birth. The earliest known record of him is in an inscr ...

, a member of the guild. The composition inspired numerous painters in

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

and

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, such as

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Painting, painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school (art), Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He pain ...

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father ...

and

Andrea Solario Andrea Solari (also Solario) (1460–1524) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Milanese school. He was initially named ''Andre del Gobbo'', but more confusingly as ''Andrea del Bartolo'' a name shared with two other Italian painters, ...

Description

Jesus is portrayed with a cross on his shoulder, against a dark background, while an executioner is holding a noose on his neck. At the side are two secondary figures. Jesus, with a doleful expression, is looking towards the seer. The profile of the executioner and of the side figures were perhaps inspired by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

's drawings, which would be part of Venetian collections at the time. Although the subject of

Christ Carrying the Cross Christ Carrying the Cross on his way to his crucifixion is an episode included in the Gospel of John, and a very common subject in art, especially in the fourteen Stations of the Cross, sets of which are now found in almost all Roman Catholic ...

had long been common for Italian art, Titian was following a type of "close-up" composition that had only recently been introduced to Northern Italy, from German or northern European examples. The painting features elements which were typical of both Titian and Giorgione: 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 ...

contour of the figures and the inhomogeneous colors were common in the latter's works, while the robustness of the characters and their active participation to the event (differently than the quasi-dreaming contemplation of Giorgione) are a Titian hallmark.

Versions

File:Titian - Christ Carrying the Cross - WGA22830.jpg, Version in the Museo del Prado, (98 x 116 cm) File:Titian, Christ Carrying the Cross. Oil on canvas, 67 x 77 cm, c. 1565. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.jpg, Another version in the Museo del Prado, (67 x 77 cm) File:Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) - Carring of the Cross.jpg, Version in the Hermitage Museum, (89 x 77 cm)

References

{{authority control 1505 paintings Paintings by Giorgione Religious paintings by Titian

History

Description

Versions

See also

References