All That Glistens

Set in an expansive landscape of luscious green and towering buildings depicting the old walls of Jerusalem, this moving composition depicts the moment in which Christ, wearing a flowing pink robe and the Crown of Thorns, falls under the weight of the Cross on the road to Golgotha. Two men come to His aid, eager to follow the soldiers’ instructions to take up the Cross: one is dressed in a white loincloth and the other is Simon of Cyrene, an elderly man dressed in an orange cloak and purple tunic. At his shoulder are two women, both visibly distressed. To the right of the scene is a soldier dressed in full armor presumably pointing in the direction of Golgotha. At the center of the scene, Christ gazes to His right at Saint Veronica, whose pathos is increased by her profil perdu as she genuflects before Him while holding up the cloth that will then bear His image.

This important addition to the oeuvre of Guido Reni, whose attribution has been confirmed both by Erich Schleier and Cecilia Cavalca, represents a significant contribution to the reconstruction and understanding of the artist’s early activity. Furthermore, the enchanting ingenuity, formal precision, and great quality all recognizable as part of a transitional moment in Reni’s work, suggest that the present image should be dated to around 1595-1596. The attribution has been further supported by Alessandro Brogi as well as Daniele Benati, who assert that, despite the lack of any specific mention in documentary sources, the stylistic characteristics of the present composition enable a confident attribution to Guido Reni.

This Christ Carrying the Cross finds an echo in Reni’s Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and Hyacinth, now in a Bolognese private collection.[1] While Carlo Cesare Malvasia [2] refers to the admonishment on the part of Ludovico for an immoderacy of ‘diligence’, which in his eyes weakened the style of the younger, promising artist; this was, in reality, a deliberate artistic stance that was already beginning to mark the development of Reni’s artistic individuality. The similarity of this to the Bologna Madonna and Child is particularly noticeable in such details as the garment of Veronica, which displays the same shimmering transition of hues from blue to pink of the Saint Catherine, as well as their fine, puffed sleeves held with a golden ribbon, and in the landscape, which is similar to the landscape appearing beyond the slightly open curtain in the Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and Hyacinth.

Displaying close similarities to other works from his early career, around 1595, this copper reflects a shift when the artist, together with Francesco Albani, threw off the influence of Denys Calvaert as a result of learning at the Accademia degli Incamminati, founded in 1582 in Bologna by the Carracci. This exquisite work exhibits a closeness to the style of Ludovico Carracci, who was in charge of the Accademia following the 1589 departure of Annibale and Agostino for Rome. This is apparent in the powerful musculature of the man in the foreground who is depicted in energetic torsion and can be compared to the compositions by Ludovico painted for San Girolamo della Certosa in Bologna (Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, The Flagellation, inv. 456 and The Crowning with Thorns, inv. 464, figs. 1-2). Confirmation of the link to the Carracci comes from the subject depicted, which reappears with significant differences in another oil on copper at Chatsworth, of lesser quality, attributed to a follower of Ludovico Carracci, perhaps Francesco Carracci.[3]