Marco Palmezzano

Overshadowed by its Venetian and Tuscan neighbours, the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy nevertheless produced some wonderful artists such as Palmezzano who, arguably, have not received enough attention. Marco was one of the most successful painters of his time in his native Forlì, focusing on large altarpieces and images for more personal devotion, such as the present work. He did not fall under the spell of Raphael and his followers but instead, after training with Melozzo da Forlì, continued to adhere to the idiom of late-quattrocento Venice, and in particular the work of Cima da Conegliano and Giovanni Bellini, whose influence markedly informs the present Christ.

The image of Christ carrying the Cross was one which the artist returned to several times in his career.¹ Probably the earliest, without the tormentor and against a plain background, is signed and dated 1503 and is today in Berlin. Variants of the Berlin type, each signed, include those in the Vatican, in the Monastero del Corpus Domini, Forlì (dated 1521) and at Temple Newsam, Leeds (dated 1535).

A much wider type, of horizontal format, in the Pinacoteca in Forlì, includes three figures to the left of Christ, and is also signed and dated 1535. Two of the additional figures, however, are not tormentors but devotees of Christ, perhaps Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Of this type numerous variants are known, of which perhaps the earliest is the signed and dated panel in the Museo Correr in Venice.

This painting belongs to a third type, which includes the signed panel in the Cassa di Risparmio in Forlì, as well as a work sold in these rooms in 2017, which probably dates from the 1510s.² There are several unique aspects to the work offered here. In particular, a second tormentor, with a prominent veiny head and golden earring, is introduced on the left and the landscape is swapped to the right-hand side. The colour scheme too has been altered, as Christ is depicted in a deep blue which is brilliantly contrasted against the red and yellows of the tormentors and the green in the distance beyond. These features, as well as the metallic colouring, suggest that this may be the latest version.

¹ For a full discussion of the different types and their locations, see G. Viroli's catalogue entry in Paolucci, Prati and Tumidei 2005, p. 326.

² Sotheby's, London, 5 December 2018, lot 3, for £150,000.