3-042-409 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Study for the Figure of Christ Carrying the Cross, about 1513-1514. Additional Info: A tender and moving drawing, this is a preparatory study for Sebastiano del Piombo's painting of Christ Carrying the Cross, now in the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. The pose, lighting and drapery of the figure in the Madrid painting are closely paralleled in the present drawing, which also indicates the position of the cross resting on Christ's shoulder. The painting for which this is a study was commissioned by the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, Don Jéronimo de Vich y Valterra, probably in 1513 or 1514. The commission came through the mediation of the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, and the painting shows a new dynamism in Sebastiano's work.