Christ on the Way to Calvary

Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640). Christ Carrying the Cross, c. 1635. This quick sketch, painted with oil, is a design for a 5.5 metre high altarpiece made by Rubens between 1634 and 1637 for the Benedictine Abbey at Affligem in Flemish Brabant, and currently in a Brussels museum. Three oil sketches for the altar have survived. Rubens focused the viewer's attention on the centre of the composition. Jesus collapsing under the cross. Veronica wipes his face with a cloth. The figures are depicted in a diagonal composition that rises from the prisoners below right to the soldiers top left. This arrangement enabled Rubens to group the various characters in a convincing whole, creating a suggestion of movement and depth. Purchased in 1809, from the collection Van Heteren Gevers (The Hague).