Before us is the pictorial representation of a sculpture of Christ in one of his falls while carrying the cross on the road to Calvary Hill, without it being specifically a station of the Via Crucis. He is wearing a tunic such as those that tended to be placed on sculptures in the processional steps of the festivities of Holy Week during the Vice royalty. These are commonly called Nazarenes, for they alluded to the slab containing the judgment ed by Pilate on Jesus which read, "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews", as each judgment ed had to be written on the slab called a titulum and hung from the neck of the prisoner, or worn by a justice official in the procession.[1]
In this case, Pilate's judgment bothered the high priests very much, and they contested it saying Jesus was the King of the Jews, and in exchange they asked for the slab to read that Jesus "said he was the king of the Jews". To this Pilate responded, "What I have written, I have written", which in reality was revenge for "... the defeat, and he responded with contempt and hostility to the expressions of political loyalty of the of the Sanhedrin.[2]
Upon representing a sculpture and not the narration of the ionate events, instead of being in an open space Jesus appears in a veiled niche whose edge has well-detailed laces, while his hand rests on a cushion. The flowers distributed throughout the space of the base of the niche allude to the occurrence of a miraculous moment or event.
In the painting from the Museum no distinctive characteristics were represented that allow a specific sculpture to be recognized, but perhaps it is a "vera efigie" or "true portrait", that is, the exact copy of a work considered miraculous. Jesus bearing the cross with one knee on the ground, a rope tied to his neck, and dressed with the tunic, is one of the common ways of representing this iconographic type.[3] The cross that he bears is not made of wood, but of a trunk, for which the head of the longest can be seen, which draws attention to the grains of the fallen tree, perhaps an allusion to the destiny of his life.
Several variations of Christ with these characteristics were considered miraculous in New Spain, the most famous perhaps being the one from the Hospital of Jesus in the capital of the Vice-royalty, although this is also similar to the Christ of the three falls from the Parish of the Santo Ángel de Analco, which has once again been used in processions for several years.
The work features great expressiveness in the face; it is colorful, and shows detailed work in the simulation of the fabrics and lace; therefore, it is an excellent sample of a painting with sculptural carving. It should be noted that the piece has not been restored, and that it has been preserved in very good condition.
[1]. Schenone, Héctor H., Jesus Christ Iconografía del arte colonial (Iconography of colonial art), Argentina, Fundación Tarea, 1998, pgs. 248-251.
[2]. Ibid., pg. 248.
[3]. Ibid., pgs. 250-251.
