Cavalry returning from the Crucifixion

The only drawing of the subject by Cambiaso, which makes it exceptionally rare as the artist usually made several replicas of his own compositions. Given its high quality, it can be considered an autograph prototype. It was probably executed around the same time as the late Passion scenes, in the late 1560s, and is comparable to those drawings in both subject and style. It displays a nascent abstraction of form within a vast landscape setting similar to other works from this period (see, for example, Arrest of Christ, Prado; J. Bober, ed., Luca Cambiaso 1527-1585, Milan, 2006, p. 85, fig. 18). From the mid-1650s Cambiaso began using wooden mannequins with articulated joints that he would arrange on a sort of miniature stage to create a three-dimensional composition.

We are grateful to Jonathan Bober for confirming the attribution to Cambiaso based on a photograph, and providing us with additional information.