The theme of Carrying the Cross became popular in medieval art because of its epic possibilities. It allowed including a number of motifs associated with the journey of Jesus to Golgotha in the picture. In the 16th century, renaissance artists could not have missed this opportunity. One of the most influential artists was a painter of northern Mannerism – Hans von Aachen (1552 – 1615).
As if the viewer had, in front of their eyes, a smaller stage, but with extremely numerous extras – the characters in the foreground with all their gestures and their figures draw the view to the middle of the picture. It is dominated by Jesus falling under the weight of the cross, surrounded on both sides by soldiers who urge the procession to move forward.  Unlike almost all other characters, Christ is not covered by any other figure. On the contrary, the space in front of Him is free, deliberately lightened. While other characters are characterized by dynamic movement and excited gestures, Jesus kneeling under the cross directs His gaze to the viewer looking at the picture and thereby makes the viewer actually perceive this lively scene. Similar strategies are typical of works for private purposes; even the relatively small size of this, on a wooden board painted image points in favour of such function.
Work from the collection of the Slovak National Gallery belongs to the “Munich” period of the works created by this artist. Here, he was staying mainly in the environment of the Munich Residence, worked for princes of court at that time, but also for Augsburg Fugger. A number of portraits, but also the objects of private devotion similar to our picture, were created there. At that time, he had already completed a number of “study” tours, including the Netherlands and Italy. A few years later, Hans von Aachen became a famous court painter of Emperor Rudolf II and moved to Prague (1596).

Dušan Buran

The stamps are with violet perfume.