The Carrying of the Cross, from the Church of St. Martin, Lorch am Rhein

This group is considered a major achievement of sculptural work in terracotta from the Middle Rhine around 1400. At the centre of the procession to Golgotha was the figure of Christ carrying his cross (seen here as a plaster replica); the original, as well as the figures of the two thieves and that of the donor nobleman which was formerly positioned apart from the main group, numbers among the losses from the Second World War. To the left we see grieving women, among them the mother of Christ, supported by St. John, and Veronica, who holds the cloth on which the face of Christ can be seen. Others in the group are Simon of Cyrene, henchmen, and soldiers, among them the centurion who later recognized that this was the son of God. The casing is based on a reconstruction dating from 1837; the tracery frieze has been completed from an extant original segment.