During his long career, Domenicos Theotokopoulos, better known as El Greco, created many paintings depicting Christ, but it was "Carrying the Cross" or "Christ Carrying the Cross" that became one of the most iconic and truly revolutionary images of the Savior created by the artist.
Surprisingly, this image of Christ, seemingly so alive and even modern, was painted almost 500 years ago.
But what is the story that preceded the creation of this iconic work of art?
Christ carrying the cross. El Greco, 1570s.
At least seven versions of this painting are known to exist (not including those in which Christ holds the cross upright). But this article will focus on the very first and extremely revolutionary masterpiece created by El Greco in the late 1570s during the artist's stay in Spain.
The theme, which isolates Christ from the scenes on the road to Calvary, was developed primarily by North Italian artists of the early 1500s, such as Giovanni Bellini, Sebastiano Del Piombo and Andrea Solario.
Christ carrying the cross. Sebastiano del Piombo.
El Greco probably saw Sebastiano del Piombo's Christ Carrying the Cross, painted in the mid-1530s for Fernando da Silva, who took it with him to Spain, where he entered the royal collection. The painting hung for a long time in the El Escorial monastery and was well known to many European artists.
Promotional video:
In his interpretation, El Greco departs from the suffering prototype of Christ, bent under the weight of the cross, and creates a new image for him, in which the Savior looks with admiration at God and embraces the cross as an instrument of his salvation.
The very same pose and looking up remind some of the paintings of the risen Christ by the North Italian masters (such as Ambrogio Bergognone and Andrea Previtali).
In the late 1570s and early 1580s, El Greco already painted a number of saints in a similar manner, such as Saint Sebastian (circa 1577-1578), Mary Magdalene (early 1580s), and Saint Peter (1580s).
El Greco's idea of Christ proudly carrying the cross was an absolutely revolutionary departure from the iconography characteristic of Spain in those times, where the emphasis was always on suffering.
Perhaps the work created by El Greco would never have been accepted by the clergy if the artist's vision had not been supported by Teresa of Avila herself (a Spanish nun canonized), who had influential followers.
The image itself has been characterized as being in mystical communion with God and arriving in a state of divine grace beyond worldly sensation.
Even a crown of thorns and a heavy cross do not make any depressing impression on the Savior.
At one time, "Carrying the Cross" became a symbol of inspiration for hope and faith, and remains so today.
