Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, unknown maker from Italy; Raphael

Exhibition Label:
"Giorgio Vasari and Court Culture in Late Renaissance Italy," Sep-2012, Sally Cornelison and Susan Earle
This is one of many works made in a variety of media, including tapestry, maiolica, marble, painting, and drawing, to reproduce Lo Spasimo di Sicilia (1517-20) - literally the “Spasm of Sicily”- a famous altarpiece Raphael painted for the church of Santa Maria dello Spasimo in Palermo. The spasimo in question is the Virgin Mary’s anguished physical reaction, or swoon, at the sight of her suffering son. In his Life of Raphael, Vasari recounted that the painting, which is pictured below, had achieved cult status because it was the only entity to survive when the ship transporting it to Sicily was destroyed during a storm at sea. An example of reverse painting on glass, this image was painted on the back of a clear glass panel. Glass painters typically added the details and shading before finishing with the larger areas of color. It is viewed from the opposite side, which reverses the composition of the original.