Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Altar card
France, Paris, ca. 1515-1525
MS M.1147. Christ bearing the Cross (single leaf).

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Christ: bearing Cross -- Two Holy Women, nimbed and veiled, and Mary Magdalen, nimbed, holding ointment jar in right hand and cloth to face with left hand, stand in front of building beside Evangelist John, nimbed, behind Virgin Mary, nimbed, veiled, kneeling with clasped hands. At center Christ, crowned with thorns, carries cross on left shoulder grasping cross-bar with both hands. Behind Christ, Simon of Cyrene, wearing hat, holds base of the cross with both hands. In the background is group of soldiers, wearing armor and carrying spears.
Before Christ, Veronica of Rome, nimbed, veiled, stands holding cloth (sudarium) with both hands. On the cloth is the face of Christ, bleeding from wound in forehead.
At right group of soldiers, wearing armor and holding spears, surrounds the two thieves, Dysmas (good thief) and Gestas (bad thief), wearing loincloths, one only partly visible.
Margins are decorated with Renaissance ornament including putti, heads of putti, masks, addorsed and confronted figures, some supporting foliage or vases.