The Road to Calvary (Duccio)

Condemned by Pilate, Christ was led out of Jerusalem carrying his own cross to Golgotha to be crucified (John 19:16-17). Duccio shows him pulled forward through the city gate by a soldier gripping his robe, helmeted guards and pointed spears closing in behind, while the Virgin in black follows with the holy women, her grief held in a still, downcast face. From the back of the Siena Maesta, the panel moves the procession across a shallow stage, the diagonal of the cross cutting against the bristling line of lances.