Raphael, 'The Procession to Calvary', about 1504-5

The Procession to Calvary

Raphael

Not on display

About the work

Overview

This is one of three scenes from the predella of Raphael’s Colonna Altarpiece painted for the convent of S. Antonio da Padua in Perugia. The Procession to Calvary was the central scene of the predella, positioned below the main panel of the altarpiece.

Christ looks to us as he carries the Cross, helped by Simon of Cyrene and escorted by five foot soldiers. The Virgin Mary is supported by the Three Marys and accompanied by Saint John the Evangelist, who wrings his hands in grief. The three distinct groups of the procession are linked together by a rhythm of repeated colour and by the figures who look back over their shoulders at the groups behind.

Several of the figures show the influence of other artists, including Leonardo, Filippino Lippi and Justus of Ghent, demonstrating how Raphael was assimilating different approaches and ideas into his own developing style during this early period of his career.

In-depth

This is one of three scenes from the predella of Raphael’s Colonna Altarpiece, painted for the convent of S. Antonio da Padua in Perugia and named after the Colonna family in Rome who once owned it. The main panel of the altarpiece depicted the Virgin and Child enthroned with saints (Peter, Paul, Catherine and another female martyr). At the top of the altarpiece was a lunette showing God the Father blessing, flanked by two angels with scrolling ribbons similar to those in Raphael’s earlier Mond Crucifixion. The panel and lunette are both in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

The Procession to Calvary was the central scene of the predella, positioned below the main panel of the altarpiece. Christ looks to us as he carries the Cross, escorted by five foot soldiers, one of whom drags him by a rope round his waist. Simon of Cyrene, behind Christ, helps him bear the weight of the Cross. The Virgin Mary, in dark robes at the far left, is supported by the Three Marys and accompanied by Saint John the Evangelist, who wrings his hands in grief. The three distinct groups of the procession are linked together by a pattern of repeated colour and by the figures who look back over their shoulders at the groups behind.

We can see Raphael’s interest in the work of other artists in this small panel. The turbaned horseman and rearing white horse behind him reveal his knowledge of Leonardo’s unfinished fresco, The Battle of Anghiari, after which he had made a sketch (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford). The procession with all its diversity may indicate Raphael’s knowledge of an engraving of the same subject by the German artist Martin Schongauer. Another predella panel by Raphael, Saint John the Baptist Preaching, takes further the variety of costume and colour, and emphasis on rhythm and pattern, to add structure and interest to a crowd scene. The group of the Virgin supported by the Three Marys was inspired by figures in a Deposition scene for the high altar of SS. Annunziata, Florence, begun by Filippino Lippi and completed by Perugino after Filippino’s death in 1504. The pose of Raphael’s Christ was inspired by the work of Justus van Ghent, who had worked at the court in Urbino where Raphael’s father, Giovanni Santi, had been court painter.

The Procession to Calvary was originally flanked on the left by The Agony in the Garden (Metropolitan Museum, New York), and on the right by the Pietà (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston). The scenes were originally painted on a single plank of wood that was cut into three when the predella was sold. Two smaller panels showing Franciscan saints completed the predella.

Although some have since criticised the Colonna Altarpiece as an awkward blend of styles and influences, at the time of its making it received the highest praise. The predella scenes demonstrate Raphael’s growing talent for narrative and for drawing out a poignant human dimension in biblical stories.

Want to find out more?

Delve deeper and explore the catalogue entry for this painting.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Procession to Calvary
Artist: Raphael
Artist dates: 1483 - 1520
Date made: about 1504-5
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 24.4 × 85.5 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1913
Inventory number: NG2919
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 19th-century Italian Frame

Provenance

S. Antonio, Perugia. Sold in 1663 to Queen Christina of Sweden, at Rome. No. 143 in the 1689 inventory of her pictures (which were then sold to Don Livio Odescalchi), no. 257 in that of 1721 (when they were bought by the Regent Orléans). Described on pages 437–8 of the 1727 catalogue (by Du Bois de Saint Gelais) of the Orleans collection. Lot 88 in the sale at Bryan’s Gallery, London, 26th December, 1798 of Italian pictures from the Orléans collection, where, in the copy in the Gallery library, the buyer’s name is given as ‘Mr. Hibbert’. Therefore probably lot 44 in the sale, Christie’s, 14th May, 1802, of the combined collection of Sir Simon Clarke and George Hibbert, where bought Woodburn. In the Miles collection, Leigh Court, by 1822 (no. 21 in the printed catalogue, by John Young, of that year). Exh. R. A., 1870 (59) (lent Sir William Miles). Lot 54, Sir Philip Miles sale, Christie’s, 28th June, 1884, where bought Agnew. Exh. New Gallery, London, 1893–4, no. 242 and R. A. 1902, no. 14 (lent Lord Windsor in both cases). Purchased from the first Earl of Plymouth (Lord Windsor), Temple West Fund, 1913. Exh. Stockholm (Queen Christina), 1966, I, 176.

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.

Exhibition history

2018

Raffaello e l’eco del mito

Pinacoteca dell'Accademia Carrara

27 January 2018 - 6 May 2018
2022

The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael

The National Gallery (London)

9 April 2022 - 31 July 2022

Bibliography

1786

J. Couché, Galerie du Palais-Royal gravée d'après les tableaux des différentes écoles qui la composent, avec un abrégé de la vie des peintres et une description historique de chaque tableau, Paris 1786
1822

J. Young, A Catalogue of the Pictures at Leigh Court, Near Bristol: The Seat of Philip John Miles, Esq., with Etchings from the Whole Collection, London 1822
1824

W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting: With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England Since the French Revolution, London 1824
1854

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
1860

J.D. Passavant, Raphaël d'Urbin et son père Giovanni Santi, Paris 1860
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
1882

J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, Raphael: His Life and Works, 2 vols, London 1882
1897

J.O. Granberg, La galerie de tableaux de la reine Christine de Suède, Stockholm 1897
1902

J.P. Richter, 'Review: The Old Masters at Burlington House', Art Journal, 1902, pp. 81‑5
1910

R. Fry, 'The Umbrian Exhibition at the Burlington Fine Arts Club', The Burlington Magazine, XVI/83, 1910, pp. 267-74
1923

A. Rosenberg, Raffael, des Meisters Gemälde, in 274 Abbildungen, ed. G. Gronau, Berlin 1923
1923

P. Schubring, 'Die Predella zu Raffaels Altar für S. Antonio in Perugia', Cicerone, XV, 1923, pp. 3-7
1931

P. Hendy, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Catalogue of the Exhibited Paintings and Drawings, Boston 1931
1940

H.B. Wehle, A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish and Byzantine Paintings, New York 1940
1948

O. Fischel, Raphael, trans. B. Rackham, London 1948
1962

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
1971

L. Düssler, Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Pictures, Wall-Paintings and Tapestries, trans. S. Cruft, London 1971
1975

C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
1977

K. Oberhuber, 'The Colonna Altarpiece in the Metropolitan Museum and Problems of the Early Style of Raphael', Metropolitan Museum Journal, XII, 1977, pp. 55-91
1978

E. Fahy, 'Italian Paintings at Fenway Court and Elsewhere', The Connoisseur, CXCVIII, 1978, pp. 28-9
1980

P. Murray, The Dulwich Picture Gallery: A Catalogue, London 1980
1980

F. Zeri and E.A. Gardner, A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Sienese and Central Italian Schools, New York 1980
1982

P. de Vecchi, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Raphael, Paris 1982
1983

J.-P. Cuzin, Raphaël: Vie et oeuvre, Fribourg 1983
1986

S.F. Pagden, 'The Early Raphael and His Umbrian Contemporaries', Studies in the History of Art, XVII, 1986, pp. 93-107
1987

Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
1989

S.F. Pagden and M.A. Zancan, Raffaello: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1989
1994

E. Borsellino, 'Cristina di Svezia collezionista', Ricerche di storia dell'arte, LIV, 1994, pp. 4-16
1995

R. White and J. Pilc, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVI, 1995, pp. 85-95
1996

J. Shearman, 'On Raphael's Chronology 1503-1508', in V. von Flemming and S. Schütze (eds), Ars naturam adiuvans. Festschrift für Matthias Winner zum 11. März 1996, Mainz am Rhein 1996, pp. 201-7
1999

C. Wagner, Farbe und Metapher: Die Entstehung einer neuzeitlichen Bildmetaphorik in der vorrömischen Malerei Raphaels, Berlin 1999
2001

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

J. Meyer zur Capellen, Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Paintings, vol. 1, Beginnings in Umbria and Florence, ca. 1500-1508, Landshut 2001
2002

M.W. Kwakkelstein, 'The Model's Pose: Raphael's Early Use of Antique and Italian Art', Artibus et historiae, XXIII/46, 2002, pp. 37-60
2002

D. Bomford et al., Underdrawings in Renaissance Paintings (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 30 October 2002 - 16 February 2003), London 2002
2003

M. Olin, 'La regina Cristina collezionista di opere d'arte', in Cristina di Svezia: Le collezioni reali, Milan 2003, pp. 47-55
2004

A. Roy, M. Spring and C. Plazzotta, 'Raphael's Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXV, 2004, pp. 4-35
2004

H. Chapman, T. Henry and C. Plazzotta, Raphael: From Urbino to Rome (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 20 October 2004 - 16 January 2005), London 2004
2006

L. Wolk-Simon, 'Raphael at the Metropolitan: The Colonna Altarpiece', Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, LXIII, 2006, pp. 4-75
2006

L. Wolk-Simon, Raphael at the Metropolitan: The Colonna Altarpiece (exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006), New York 2006
2007

M. Spring, 'Raphael's Materials: Some New Discoveries and their Context within Early Sixteenth-Century Painting', in A. Roy and M. Spring (eds), Raphael's Painting Technique: Working Practices before Rome: Proceedings of the Eu-ARTECH Workshop, Florence 2007, pp. 77-86
2022

Plazzotta, Carol, and Tom Henry, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 4, Raphael, London 2022

Frame

This is a nineteenth-century Italian replica frame. It has a reverse pinewood moulding with gilt back edge. The blue and gold frieze is adorned with scrolls and leaves, made using the sgraffito technique.

In 1995 a new reverse moulding was fitted to follow the curvature of Raphael’s The Procession to Calvary, reducing the shadows cast on the picture for optimal presentation.

Photographs of the National Gallery’s ‘Raphael room’ from 1923 show The Procession to Calvary in a decorative frame with entablature and pastiglia ornamentation.

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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