Christ on the Way to Calvary

Dr. Ludwig Meyer points out this probably formed part of a series of four panels depicting The Passion of Christ on the wings of an altar that probably contained a sculpted retable representing The Crucifixion. He compares the style of the picture with that of the same subject on the High altar in the Parish Church of Maria-Laach am Jauerling near Melk, although that picture can be dated to circa twenty years later (see Österreichische Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege, XLVII, 1993, p. 24, illustrated). Also the composition is comparable: the Passauer artist depicted Christ in exactly the same position as in the present picture and also shows a similar figure assisting Christ in carrying the cross, wearing the same white gloves and his hands in the same position.

The picture was part of the private collection of Ignaz von Senestrey (1818-1906) who was the Bishop of Regensburg from 1858. His collection was comparable to that of the Bishop of Passau, Heinrich von Hofstätter, both consisting predominantly of religious pictures and sculptures that had been removed from churches in Bavaria after the Secularisation of 1803.