“Coming back home after being in The MET Museum I was so impressed because I found myself contemplating some of the paintings that I had been studying in college, or paintings that I have prayed with. But I hadn’t seen them before personally and one of these is this painting called Christ Carrying the Cross by the artist Domenikos Theotokopoulos, “El Greco” (1577– 87) in Spain. The medium is oil on canvas and the dimensions are 41 5/16 x 31 1/8 in.
El Greco has a particular style inside the baroque. His artworks are easy to recognize because of the colors, the forms of the faces, hands, etc. Within these two characteristics we can comment on the colors, they are striking and attractive. El Greo was here playing with complementary colors, such as the tunic of Jesus which is red, and the cloak that is greenish blue. The light is fundamental in the works of El Greco and in this one in particular, we see it in the flesh and in a particular way in the eyes making them the center of the work. The eyes are looking towards the sky, and this elevation is helped by the elongated face and the thin hands and the cross, which form a line that crosses the painting pointing toward the sky. This gaze conveys hope and meaning in carrying the cross, doing so for a specific reason not out of mere obligation but out of a desire to fulfill the Father’s divine will.
Another characteristic that I want to highlight is the composition of the painting, Jesus carries almost the whole painting but, is one step back so his hands are closer to me and make it more dramatic.
Also, I would like to highlight the influence of Mannerism in El Greco’s artwork. One of the most important characteristics in this period is the expressions of the face, that is full of feeling. Here the face of Jesus transmits a lot of his feelings, doing God’s will with hope and charity. Another point is the distortion of perspective and lack of background with architectural details or other scenes.
El Greco uses great symbolism; the fruit of his high production of religious art. The broken crown of thorns is a detail that has called my attention in a special way. It symbolizes the real suffering of Christ making his humanity, and how good overcomes evil, the sign of attoning for our offenses and destroying evil. There is also symbolism in the colors: the red of blood and passion; the blue tells us the divinity of Christ. The absence of excessive blood or gory symbolism is supplemented by the drama of the shadows and the darkness of the sky.”
To conclude, I will leave you with a great moment of contemplation on this work; looking fixedly into the eyes of Christ. I especially enjoyed being able to contemplate a cruel moment of Christ’s Passion through this dramatic but hopeful perspective, which could be used in the future as an image of our lives carrying our daily crosses with the hope of being the same as Jesus carrying the cross with faith, hope and charity.
