Christ, Stories and Representations

This work, signed by "Ledesma" in 1768, refers to the passion of Christ, but does not represent him. The creator was inspired perhaps by some engravings in which the robe takes the place of Jesus Christ as the protagonist, surrounded by instruments of passion. In New Spain painting not only represented the instruments of the passion, but around the robe, arranged to remember the crucified body, are Mary and John, who accompanied him during that painful moment, God the Father, who will receive him in heaven and some cherubs.

It is the image of Christ in the winepress, that is to say, in the place where the grapes are crushed in order to obtain the must and make wine. The juice and the blood of Jesus are confused, therefore achieving a symbolic association between sacrifice, pain and the Eucharist. It is common to find Jesus, in addition to being on top of the basin, the pressure being applied by the press, like the one used for grapes as recorded by Jerome or Hieronymus Wierix (1553–1619), a widely used and copied image in the Hispanic world.  

  The crucifixion of Christ is at the center of the scene, but instead of being located on Mount Calvary, it appears in an unknown place, surrounded by the instruments that were used to inflict pain on the Savior or drive him on: the glove with which he was beaten, the hammer used to nail his hands and feet, the nails themselves, the hyssop, the ladder, the INRI, or the dice with which the soldiers gambled for his clothes, among others. The cross, in front of the sepulcher, is brought forth from a heart in which Mary appears dressed in the colors of the Immaculate Conception.  

This painting, of high quality, beauty and drama, represents one of the moments in which the Virgin Mary has retreated to her room at the Cenacle after the passion, and sadly recalls the fatal destiny of her Son. Chiaroscuro, a rare technique in eighteenth century painting, is used here to give drama and solemnity to the moment.

If we consider the formal description of the sculpture, which depicts the grieving Virgin in a genuflection position, i.e., kneeling, hands folded and pressed to the chest, head slightly down and tilted to one side plus the way she is dressed, down to the detail of small loop made with the tips of the cloak, or the large rosary, unequivocally leads us to the missing sculpture of the Soledad from the Minimos in Madrid and to the religiosity of the Crown.