Christ Carrying the Cross with Saint Veronica – Flemish School, late 17th / early 18th century

Christ Carrying the Cross with Saint Veronica – Flemish School, late 17th / early 18th century

Oil on copper

Framed size: 41 × 47 cm

Later frame (19th century)

Copper plate mounted on a protective wooden panel. 

This painting depicts the episode of Christ Carrying the Cross, set within a rocky landscape and accompanied by the procession moving toward Calvary. The work belongs to the Flemish school of the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century, reflected in the crowded narrative composition, the variety of figures, and the attention to costume.

In the foreground stands Saint Veronica, elegantly dressed, approaching Christ as he kneels under the weight of the cross. She presents the veil traditionally associated with the miraculous imprint of Christ’s face—an essential iconographic element in this subject.

The landscape, with its natural arch and distant city, follows the visual conventions of Northern Baroque painting, where the path to Golgotha unfolds as a broad procession populated by soldiers, attendants, and mourning women who animate the scene.

The use of oil on copper corresponds to a refined Flemish tradition favouring smooth, stable supports that allow for precise detail. The copper plate is secured to a wooden panel on the reverse, a customary method of protection.

Later frame of the 20th century.