The "Christ Carrying the Cross" is a painting by Italian painter Francesco Salviati, executed in 1547-1548. The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
The small size of the painting indicates that it was intended for a bedroom or private chapel.
It focuses on a close-up of Christ’s face, as he makes his way towards Mount Calvary with the cross on his shoulder.
Francesco Salviati (1509-1563) | Christ Carrying the Cross, 1547-1548 | Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Francesco Salviati (1509-1563)
This subject was particularly popular in the mid-16th century, due to the lively debates on the themes of salvation and good Christian conduct, that were important in the spiritual circles where Juan de Valdés and Bernardino Tommassini, known as Ochino, gave their sermons.
The serious, composed expression on Christ’s tear-streaked face, and his lowered gaze, which expresses all the humiliation inflicted by his torturers and the human pain of his imminent death, are rendered by an extremely refined, analytical painting style, characterized by painstaking attention to detail: from the crown of thorns piercing Christ’s forehead, causing fine trickles of blood, to his thick hair, entwined strand by strand in the same fashion as the tidy curls of his blond beard.
The compact, glazed light of the surface, the pale color palette used, and the details which visibly render the transparencies of his diaphanous skin, in contrast with the bright red of his robe, evoke the finesse of contemporary Bronzino-style paintings.
Salviati painted this small panel during his short Florentine period, between 1543-1548.
During the same period, Salviati also painted the frescoes with Scenes from the Life of Furius Camillus in the Audience Room in Palazzo Vecchio, the drawings for the Scenes from the Life of Giuseppe Ebreo woven into tapestries by Flemish artist Nicolas Carcher, the large Deposition for the Dini altar in Santa Croce and various other portraits that bear witness to his versatility in a range of genres. | Source: © Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Francesco Salviati | Annunciation, 1534
Francesco Salviati or Francesco de' Rossi (1510-1563) was an Italian Mannerist painter who lived and worked in Florence, with periods in Bologna and Venice, ending with a long period in Rome, where he died.
He is known by various names, usually the adopted one of Francesco Salviati or Il Salviati, after an early patron, but also Francesco Rossi and Cecchino del Salviati.
He worked in fresco and oils, on ambitious history paintings, but also painted many portraits, and designed tapestries for the Medici.
Francesco Salviati | Portrait of a Man | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Francesco Salviati | Self-portrait as Gentleman
Francesco Salviati | Portrait of a boy
Francesco Salviati | Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist, 1540
Francesco Salviati | Time as Prudence siezes Occasion by the hair
Francesco de' Rossi, detto Il Salviati, e spesso indicato semplicemente come Francesco Salviati (Firenze, 1510 - Roma, 11 novembre 1563), è stato un pittore Italiano, fra i massimi esponenti del periodo del Manierismo.
Le piccole dimensioni del dipinto "Cristo portacroce" indicano che la sua destinazione doveva essere una camera od una cappella privata.
Questo soggetto trova particolare fortuna alla metà del Cinquecento, per via delle accese discussioni sul tema della salvezza e della condotta del buon cristiano portate avanti dai circoli degli spirituali raccolti intorno alla predicazione di Juan de Valdés e Bernardino Tommassini, detto Ochino.
La scena in primissimo piano è concentrata sulla testa di Cristo mentre incede verso il monte Calvario, portando la croce sulla spalla.
Francesco Salviati | Carlo Rimbotti | Metropolitan Museum of Art
L’espressione severa e composta del volto solcato dalle lacrime, lo sguardo abbassato ad esprimere tutta l’umiliazione inflitta dai carnefici e il dolore umano per il suo destino di morte, sono tradotti in una pittura raffinatissima e attenta alla resa analitica dei dettagli, dalla corona di spine che punge la fronte stillando rivoli sottili di sangue, alla capigliatura spessa, intessuta filo per filo, al pari della barba bionda composta in riccioli ordinati.
Francesco Salviati | Deposition | Piazza Santa Croce Florence
La luminosità compatta e smaltata della superficie, la gamma cromatica chiara, l’indagine sulle trasparenze della pelle diafana, a contrasto con l’accensione della veste rossa, richiamano le finezze della coeva pittura bronzinesca.
Salviati eseguì la tavola al tempo del suo breve soggiorno fiorentino, tra il 1543-1548.
A questo momento appartengono gli affreschi con le Storie di Furio Camillo nella Sala dell’Udienza in Palazzo Vecchio, i disegni per le Storie di Giuseppe Ebreo, tessute ad arazzo dal fiammingo Nicolas Carcher, la grande Deposizione per l’altare Dini in Santa Croce e diversi ritratti che attestano la sua versatilità nel misurarsi con i diversi generi. | Fonte: © Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Francesco Salviati | Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist | Metropolitan Museum of Art
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