Jacopo Bassano, 'The Way to Calvary', about 1544-5
About the work
Overview
While carrying his cross, Christ stumbles and falls. One of Christ’s executioners raises a fist to strike him and another pulls him by a rope around his waist. In the distance is Calvary, the barren hill with two crosses where Christ will be crucified. The Virgin follows her son and wipes her tear-soaked cheek. Saint Veronica holds out her veil to Christ, on which the image of his face will become miraculously imprinted.
This painting may have been an altarpiece for a chapel dedicated to Saint Veronica. Her name is related to the Latin phrase vera ikon, which means ‘true image’. Veronica’s veil, the Sudarium, became a relic venerated as a true picture of Christ.
The composition was inspired by an engraving after Raphael (Prado, Madrid) and by a woodcut from the Small Passion by the German artist Dürer. A dense arrangement of figures expressing strong emotion is typical of Bassano’s mature works -– those made once he had fully developed his style and technique.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Way to Calvary
- Artist
- Jacopo Bassano
- Artist dates
- active about 1535; died 1592
- Date made
- about 1544-5
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 145.3 × 132.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought with a contribution from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, 1984
- Inventory number
- NG6490
- Location
- Room 9
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 17th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Nicholas Penny, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 2, ‘Venice 1540–1600’, London 2008; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1919B. Berenson, Dipinti Veneziani in America, Milan 1919
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1929W. Arslan, 'Contributo a Jacopo Bassano', Pinacotheca, I, 1929, pp. 178-96
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1931W. Arslan, I Bassano, Bologna 1931
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1936T. Borenius, 'Ein Neuentdecktes Jugendwerk Bassanos: London, Ausstellungsbericht', Pantheon, 17, 1936, pp. 107-8
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1948R. Longhi, 'Calepino veneziano, XIV. Suggerimenti per Jacopo Bassano', Arte veneta, II, 1948, pp. 43-55
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1950D. Mahon, 'Notes on the "Dutch Gift" to Charles II: III', The Burlington Magazine, XCII/562, 1950, pp. 12-8
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1955B. Nicolson, 'The Lycett Green Gift to York', The Burlington Magazine, XCVII/625, 1955, pp. 99-100
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1957P. Zampetti, Jacopo Bassano: Catalogo della mostra (exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale (Venice), 29 June - 27 October 1957), Venice 1957
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1960E. Arslan, I Bassano, Milan 1960
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1960M. Muraro, 'Bassano's Way to Calvary', The Burlington Magazine, CII/683, 1960, pp. 50-3
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1960E.K. Waterhouse, 'A Note on British Collecting of Italian Pictures in the Later Seventeenth Century', The Burlington Magazine, CII/683, 1960, pp. 54-8
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1960E.K. Waterhouse et al., Italian Art and Britain (exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, Winter 1960), London 1960
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1967A. Ballarin, 'Jacopo Bassano e lo studio di Raffaello e dei Salviati', Arte veneta, XXI, 1967, pp. 77-101
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1973A. Ballarin, 'Introduzione per un catalogo dei disegni di Jacopo Bassano, III', Arte veneta, XXVII, 1973, pp. 91-124
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1976P. Krouse, 'Notes on Princeton Drawings 12. Jacopo Bassano: Profile of a Bearded Man', Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, XXXV/1, 1976, pp. 2-13
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1983L. Magagnato, 'Jacopo da Ponte, called Jacopo Bassano', in C. Hope and J. Martineau (eds), The Genius of Venice 1500 to 1600, London 1983, pp. 146-51
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1984W.R. Rearick, 'Jacopo Bassano and Mannerism', in V. Branca and C. Ossola (eds), Cultura e società nel Rinascimento tra riforme e manierismi, Florence 1984, pp. 289-311
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1985National Gallery, The National Gallery Report: January 1982 - December 1984, London 1985
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1986M. Levey, Director's Choice: Selected Acquisitions 1973-1986: An Exhibition to mark the Retirement of Sir Michael Levey as Director of the National Gallery (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 17 December 1986 - 15 February 1987), London 1986
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1987Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
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1992L. Bortolotti, 'Jacopo Bassano 1992', Venezia cinquecento, II/4, 1992, pp. 163-94
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1992B.L. Brown et al., Jacopo Bassano, c. 1570-1592 (exh. cat. Museo Civico, 5 September - 6 December 1992; Kimbell Art Museum, 23 January - 25 April 1993), Bassano del Grappa 1992
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1995A. Ballarin, Jacopo Bassano: Scritti 1964-1995, Cittadella 1995
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1996A. Ballarin, Jacopo Bassano: Tavole: Parte prima: 1531-1568, Cittadella 1996
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1999J. Dunkerton, S. Foister and N. Penny, Dürer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Painting in the National Gallery, London 1999
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2000T.M. Di Blasio, Veronica: Il mistero del volto: Itinerari iconografici memoria e rappresentazione, Rome 2000
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001N.H.J. Hall, A Taste for Italian Art in Holland, London 2001
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2006F. Lammertse and J. van der Veen, Uylenburgh and Son: Art and Commerce from Rembrandt to de Lairesse 1625-1675, Zwolle 2006
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2008Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 2, Venice, 1540-1600, London 2008
Frame
This is a seventeenth-century Italian walnut cassetta frame. The outer inward-bending moulding steps down to a reverse ogee. The dominant frieze is adorned with evenly spaced paterae (turned ornamental circular discs), which are gilded. The sight edge features a classic moulding with half-round and hollow steps leading towards the sight edge.
The frame, when it was acquired by the Gallery in 2019, was painted black. When it was fitted to Bassano’s The Way to Calvary, it was restored to reveal its walnut finish.
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.
Images
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