After the great rebirth of art during the Renaissance, many different styles of painting emerged that were used by artists to share their creativity, thoughts, and ideas with the world. By using a specific style, an artist could express a story or piece of history uniquely. Two artists, known as Titian and El Greco, demonstrate this by using their styles to paint different interpretations of Jesus carrying the cross to His crucifixion. These artworks, called Christ Carrying the Cross, are both a depiction of this excruciating and difficult moment during Jesus’s passion, but each artist uses different composition, movement, balance, color, and mood to establish a different message they’re trying to get across to their viewers (Strickland). In Titian’s painting of Christ carrying the Cross, conveys a feeling of sorrow and suffering Jesus endures as He makes His way to give up His life for mankind. But, El Greco’s Christ Carrying the Crossseems to paint Jesus in a more peaceful light as he looks up to heaven, ready to give up His life.

Although Jesus carrying the cross to His crucifixion is only briefly told in the Bible, it is nevertheless a very important moment in the passion of Christ. Jesus, who had just been sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, was adorned with a crown of thorns and was told he must carry His cross to the hill of Golgotha where he would be crucified along with two other criminals (Luke 23: 26-32). For Jesus, the journey to Golgotha was agonizingly long, and with every step He took, the weight of the cross seemed to grow heavier. This task was so exhausting that Roman soldiers commanded a bystander, Simon of Cyrene, to help Jesus carry the cross when He no longer could (Luke 23:26-32).

The first step to analyzing how Titian’s and El Greco’s styles influenced the message of their versions of Christ Carrying the Crossis to look at their compositions. Composition in a painting is “the arrangement of visual elements using various principles and techniques” (Scott). In Titian’s depiction of Christ carrying the Cross, the painting is arranged in a square format that has two separate diagonals within it. These diagonals, one that runs along the length of Jesus’s cross and the other between Simon of Cyrene and Jesus himself, lead the viewer’s eyes around the painting. This is an essential aspect of Titian’s painting because without it the viewer is left without a clear direction they should take when viewing it. Because the focal point of Jesus looking out to the viewer is so striking, the diagonals are used as a way to invite the viewer to explore the rest of the painting. This is especially important because it forces the viewer to understand why Jesus seems so distraught. On the other hand, El Greco’s version is in a triangular formation where the top of the cross is the point of the triangle and the sides are each side of Jesus’s body. This format draws the viewer’s attention upward which is the direction that Jesus is also looking in this painting. Jesus looking up into heaven gives the painting a sense of peace and hope that Titian’s painting seems to lack.

Another key element that both painters use to alter the message of their paintings is movement. Movement is used to create flow within a painting which gives the illusion that the figures within the painting are actually in motion (Boddy-Evans). In Titian’s version of Christ carrying the Cross, there is a vast amount of movement that makes the painting seem almost alive. First, Simon of Cyrene, who helps Jesus carry the cross, is looking forward as he places his hands around the cross which implies that he is moving forward while trying to help lift the heavy piece of wood. Also, the rope around Jesus’s neck is taut, implying that someone, most likely a Roman soldier, is pulling him forward. The most important movement found within Titian’s painting would be Jesus looking over His shoulder at the viewer with tears streaming down His face. This gives the viewer a greater sense of the sadness and pain that Jesus is experiencing, and by looking at the viewer He invites them to go with Him on His journey. In El Greco’s take on this scene, there isn’t much movement at all. Jesus is standing still and the cross almost seems to bear no weight on him. The only sense of movement the viewer seems to get is Jesus looking upward to heaven. This was key in Greco’s piece because instead of implying an impending doom by moving the heavy cross forward, it instead implies Jesus’s acceptance of fate and the peace he finds by looking to His Father in heaven.

The next step in analyzing the style of both of these paintings is to look at their balance. Balance is the arrangement of visual elements according to their visual weight so one part of the painting doesn’t outweigh another (Esaak). When looking at Titian’s painting, there is a lack of balance. This lack of balance is because Titian painted Jesus to be looking directly at the viewer. After one makes eye contact with Jesus in this painting, it feels almost wrong to look anywhere else. Even if one does look away, their eyes will almost immediately be drawn back to that spot. This lack of balance was most definitely intentional on Titian’s part because his main focus in this painting is to show his viewer the suffering Jesus went through for humanity’s sins. By focusing largely on Jesus, the viewer can almost feel the pain and sadness He was going through. By contrast, El Greco’s painting has a great sense of balance because of its triangular formation. Not only are Jesus and His cross perfectly centered on the canvas of the painting, but the lack of other figures in the painting allows the viewer to focus mainly on Jesus Himself. El Greco wants his viewer to be invested solely in Jesus and the message His body language delivers. In this case, that message is to show that while He might have suffered, He has made His peace with what has to do.

In addition, there are a few other key parts of each painting that one must consider which are the colors, the light, and the shadows. As a painter of the high renaissance, Titian’s paintings were often more realistic in terms of color. In Christ Carrying the Cross, Titian uses darker and richer colors to create the depth and detail seen on every figure. Titian uses A light brown to create the cross Jesus carries on His shoulder, and a darker brown to etch very fine details into the wood of the cross. Simon of Cyrene is painted with a tanner, more olive skin tone compared to Jesus’s whiter complexion. Titian then uses browns and blacks to create shadow and dirt on the two men, and he even uses a bit of red on Jesus as the blood from the crown of thorns and as the blood vessels in His eyes. Instead of having a realistic light source, the light seems to be coming from outside the painting. This light lights up the entire scene against the black background Titian has chosen. Overall, the lighting and color give the painting a darker and more somber feel. El Greco’s painting contrasts this by using lighter, almost pastel, colors to create an overall lighter feel to the entire painting. Greco uses a light blue and red to clothe Jesus, and he even gives Jesus himself a very unnatural, grayish-white skin tone. In terms of light, it seems that either Jesus himself is the light source within this painting or that the light is coming from heaven and shining down on Jesus. Unrealistic colors were a common practice among mannerist painters such as El Greco, and in the case of this painting, it works well to lighten what is usually depicted as a dark or heavy scene, such as in Titian’s painting

Another stylistic choice that influences the message of each painting is the realism or lack thereof. In his version of Christ carrying the Cross, Titian uses highly realistic figures and objects to convey a sense of seriousness to his audience. By using correctly proportioned figures with highly detailed features, the artist can give his characters more depth and can more easily relate those characters’ emotions or hardships. In this case, the look on Jesus’ and Simon’s faces shows how tired and worn down they are from carrying the cross such a long distance. Additionally, every single detail on Jesus’s face, from His teary eyes to His furrowed eyebrows, one can tell that Jesus is suffering from excruciating pain. This pain goes beyond the physical as He looks directly into the viewer’s eyes to plead for humanity to change its ways. When considering El Greco’s painting, it’s obvious that there is less realism in his version of Jesus. In contrast to Titian, El Greco’s Jesus is disproportionately painted. His head and neck seem slightly longer than they should be. But, despite some disproportion, the emotional realism in Jesus’s face is perfectly executed. As He looks toward heaven, a soft light bounces off His eyes, and it looks as if there is a slight smile on His face. Here, Jesus realizes that he has made peace with dying for humanity’s salvation, and His hopeful gaze leaves the viewer with a feeling of peacefulness.

The story of Jesus Christ carrying His cross is a difficult story to hear. By depicting this story as a work of art, both Titian and El Greco managed to tell two sides of the same story, and the different techniques used by both artists proves that art can be used to relate a multitude of emotions in a multitude of ways. Titian’s Christ Carrying the Crosswas created to show his viewers the pain Christ endured for humanity’s sake. Looking into Christ’s eyes, one might feel greatly upset or saddened by the image, or they might feel uneasy. Titian hopes that by recognizing the sadness this painting elicits, the viewer might realize the gravity of what Christ gave up for them. In El Greco’s Christ Carrying the Cross, El Greco shows a more serene view of Jesus carrying His cross. Instead of focusing on the hardship that Christ endured during His journey to Golgotha, Greco focuses on the complete opposite. In his painting, Jesus looks to heaven with His cross by His side and realizes that His suffering will give humanity another chance. This realization gives Him hope and shows the viewers that Christ was willing to give Himself up to save them from their sins.

Works Cited