Lot 11 Dα

This magnificent reverse glass painting reproduces a mirrored version of a figural composition from an engraving by Agostino de' Musi (c. 1490 – c. 1540), called Agostina Veneziano from the year 1519. He began his career copying the engravings of Albrecht Dürer and Giulio Campagnola, and his work led him from his native city of Venice to Florence and Rome, where he found a position in the workshop of Marcantonio Raimondi.
The maker of this reverse glass painting was a master of this technique, using an unusually extensive colour palette and adding his own unique details to the foreground. This is also noticeable in the background of the work, where we see a somewhat surreal procession of figures winding their way up to Mount Calvary, including a prince of the church.
Alongside the Crucifixion, Christ carrying the Cross is the scene from the Passion story most frequently depicted in art. It usually includes the figure of Simon of Cyrene, who is mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Simon saw Christ stumble under the Cross when he was returning home from working in the fields and helped him carry it. The reverse glass painting is densely populated with figures: on the left we see Pilate, the despairing Virgin Mary is shown kneeling in the right foreground, Roman soldiers push in on the right. The diagonal lines formed by the figures' gestures, the beams of the Cross, the man seen from reverse, the standards and the lances accentuate the narrative arch that characterises this scene of Christ's walk to Calvary, ending with the Crucifixion site in the centre.
This lot includes the original print.