Christ on the Way to Calvary

An X-ray of this canvas found an earlier version of the same moment underneath. Simon of Cyrene had his head wrapped in a turban knotted at the back, and the cross was not resting on the ground at all. The two men were carrying it in the air, Christ's right hand higher than it is now, Simon's right hand gripping the beam level with Christ's waist. Titian changed his mind, brought the cross down, and put Christ on his knees, his left hand flat on a stone that carries the painter's signature. What is left is an exchange of looks between the two men that the viewer watches from outside. In 1574 the picture went to the monastery of El Escorial, where it hung in Philip II's private oratory. The monk Jose de Siguenza, who wrote the house history, recorded that the king spent long stretches of the night in front of it. It came to the Prado in 1845.