Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, 'The Procession to Calvary', probably about 1505

The Procession to Calvary

Ridolfo Ghirlandaio

Not on display

About the work

Overview

The pagan virgin Veronica took pity on Christ carrying the Cross and wiped his face with her veil, which became miraculously imprinted with his features. Saint Veronica kneels to receive the veil from Christ’s hand as he continues on his way. Although Christ is in profile, the image on the cloth is full face. The Virgin and Mary Magdalene follow Christ with Saint John the Evangelist. Simon of Cyrene helps to carry Christ’s cross.

This painting was made for the church of San Gallo in Florence, which was destroyed in 1529. The subject of Christ carrying the Cross was unusual for altarpieces at this date in Italy – the prominence of Veronica suggests that this altarpiece may have been painted for a chapel dedicated to her.

In-depth

According to Christian tradition, the pagan virgin Veronica witnessed Christ carrying the Cross on the road to Calvary. She took pity on him and wiped his face with her veil, which was miraculously imprinted with his features. Saint Veronica kneels to receive the gauzy veil from Christ’s hand as he continues on his way. Although Christ is in profile, with his lidded eyes looking down and blood trickling from his forehead, the image on the cloth is full face with eyes gazing straight at us.

The Virgin and Mary Magdalene, with tears streaming from their eyes, follow Christ with Saint John the Evangelist. Simon of Cyrene, also in profile, helps to carry Christ’s cross, an episode recounted in Luke 23: 26. This incident is the Fifth Station of the Cross. The stations are halting-places on Christ’s journey on the Via Dolorosa to Calvary to be crucified and images of these moments are intended, accompanied by prayers, to help the faithful to contemplate the suffering of Christ.

The sixteenth-century art biographer Vasari writes that this painting was made for the church of San Gallo in Florence, which was destroyed in 1529. He implies that this was one of Ridolfo’s earliest important commissions. The subject of Christ carrying the Cross was unusual for altarpieces at this date in Italy – the prominence of Veronica and her veil suggests that this altarpiece may have been painted for a chapel dedicated to her.

Vasari also says that in this painting Ridolfo Ghirlandaio included a number of ‘very beautiful heads taken from life and executed with lovingness', including the portrait of his father, the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio, who had died in 1494 aged 45, and several friends and studio assistants. The older man in profile on the far right appears to be a portrait, resembling Domenico Ghirlandaio’s 1485 self portrait as a shepherd in his Adoration of the Shepherds in the Sassetta Chapel of the Carmine Church, Florence. Simon of Cyrene and the soldier looking directly at us on the left may also be portraits. (The soldier is anachronistically carrying a gun.) However, the face of the grimacing soldier to the right of Christ has not been studied from life but appears to be based on a drawing by Leonardo. The helmet of the mounted warrior recalls another Leonardo drawing: Profile of a Warrior in a Helmet (British Museum, London). Leonardo’s drawings, especially his renderings of extreme emotion and unusual physiognomies, were very influential during this period.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Procession to Calvary
Artist: Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
Artist dates: 1483 - 1561
Date made: probably about 1505
Medium and support: oil, originally on wood, transferred to canvas
Dimensions: 166.4 × 161.3 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1883
Inventory number: NG1143
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection

Provenance

Purchased, 1883, through Charles Fairfax Murray, from the heirs of the Antinori family, Florence. The church of San Gallo, for which in all probability it was painted, was destroyed for strategic reasons during the siege of Florence in 1529. According to the account given by the Antinori family at the time of purchase the picture was then removed to S. Spirito and finally to the Palazzo Antinori da San Gaetano, Florence, where it remained until 1883.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1987; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1848

E. Förster, Handbuch für Reisende in Italien, Munich 1848
1878

G. Vasari, Le vite de'più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori: Con nuove annotazioni e commenti di Gaetano Milanesi, ed. G. Milanesi, 8 vols, Florence 1878
1891

G. Frizzoni, Arte italiana del Rinascimento, Milan 1891
1928

C. Gamba, 'Ridolfo e Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, I', Dedalo, IX, 1928, pp. 463-90
1962

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
1973

M. Hopkinson, Rodolfo del Ghirlandaio, MA Thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art 1973
1975

C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
1979

R. Genaille, 'La Montée au Calvaire de Bruegel l'Ancien', Jaarboek Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1979, pp. 143-96
1985

C.T. Dowd, 'The Travel Diary of Otto Mündler', The Walpole Society, LI, 1985
1986

A. Cecchi, 'Profili di amici e committenti', in M. Chiarini (ed.), Andrea del Sarto, 1486-1530: Dipinti e Disegni a Firenze, Florence 1986, pp. 42-57
1987

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
1993

D. Franklin, 'Ridolfo Ghirlandaio's Altar-Pieces for Leonardo Buonafé and the Hospital of S. Maria Nuova in Florence', The Burlington Magazine, CXXXV/1078, 1993, pp. 4-16
2000

T.M. Di Blasio, Veronica: Il mistero del volto: Itinerari iconografici memoria e rappresentazione, Rome 2000
2000

G. Finaldi, The Image of Christ, London 2000
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2001

D. Franklin, Painting in Renaissance Florence, 1500-1550, New Haven 2001
2008

L.A. Waldman, '"Se bene era dipintore di fantocci": Nunziata d'Antonio, Painter, Pyrotechnician and Bombardier of Florence', Paragone, LIX/703, 2008, pp. 72-86

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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