The Way to Calvary

This is the central panel from the predella of Ugolino’s altarpiece for the church of Santa Croce in Florence. The predella ran along the bottom of the entire altarpiece and was, as was usual, originally painted on one horizontal panel. It was then cut into individual scenes. There are three others in our collection: The Betrayal of Christ, The Deposition and The Resurrection.Christ has been stripped of the deep blue robe that he wore in the image showing his betrayal. Ugolino shows him carrying his cross to the site of his crucifixion, as described in the Gospel of John (John 19: 17), and includes the ‘great multitude of the people’ who follow Christ on his way (Luke 23: 27).Christ’s deep pink robe and the structure of the Cross anchor the scene. The Virgin Mary, Christ’s mother, is the other prominent figure. She is accompanied by two other women, probably the female followers of Christ mentioned in the Gospels, both also called Mary; one of them, Mary Magdalene, was traditionally shown wearing red. The Virgin is shown, as was traditional, wearing a blue robe – it was painted with ultramarine, an expensive pigment which has a tendency to change colour over time, as it has here. The soldiers' helmets have also darkened over time – they were once silver.Like The Betrayal of Christ, this composition is based upon Duccio’s image of the same subject made for the altarpiece known as the Maestà. Ugolino places the figure of Christ further to the right of the picture so that he has to turn back to look towards his mother, increasing the emotion of the moment. The Roman soldiers who arrested Jesus appear, armed with a variety of weapons to push Christ onward; on the other side, a servant pulls him by a rope tied around his neck. We also see the Jewish priests who were present at Christ’s arrest.This panel was the central part of the predella. It was preceded by a scene of the Flagellation (now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) and one of the Deposition. The Cross, placed centrally within the design of the panel, would have been situated below the figure of Christ enthroned shown on the central panel. That picture in turn was crowned with an image of the Crucifixion, absent from the predella series. This emphasis on the Cross was appropriate for the church – it was named after the Holy Cross.