Ambrogio Bergognone, 'Christ carrying the Cross', probably 1501

Christ, barefoot and weeping but dressed in rich red and blue, is bent under the weight of the Cross. The spikes of the crown of thorns dig into his flesh, and crystal tears drip down his cheeks. He is on the road to Calvary and is dragging the Cross to his own crucifixion.

The way to Calvary was a hugely popular subject in the later Middle Ages and Renaissance, when Christians were encouraged to empathise with Christ’s suffering at the Passion. It appears in several paintings in the National Gallery’s collection, from Ugolino di Nerio’s version to one by Jacopo Bassano.

This is one of a pair of small panels painted by the Milanese artist Ambrogio Bergognone. An inscription in the bottom left corner of this panel includes the date 1501. Bergognone was very fond of lettering done in mordant gilding (where gold leaf is applied over a glue) – it appears in many of his paintings, such as The Virgin and Child with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena and The Virgin and Child. Here Christ’s halo is inscribed in Latin, ‘Hail Jesus of Nazareth’; the letters on his robes are merely decoration.

Although these are biblical events, the setting is not first-century Palestine – it is Renaissance Italy. The path leads between grassy banks dotted with flowers, and in the background is a walled town on the edge of a river or lake. It is clearly a fine day: the skies are blue, people stroll on the path by the water and washing has been hung to dry over the balcony. Like many Renaissance artists, Bergognone often showed sacred stories in contemporary settings that would be familiar to his audience: for Renaissance Christians, the Bible was here and now, not ancient history.