Italian or Spanish school; third quarter of the 16th century."Christ Carrying the Cross".Oil on panel.It has inscriptions on the back.Measurements: 69 x 58 cm.The concentration that shows the face of Christ, with the fallen eyelids and the half-open mouth, exalt the devotion of the faithful, who, before the sobriety of the scene, contemplates the last moments of the life of Jesus. The artist only depicts the bust of the main figure and part of the cross, although not all of it, reducing the elements to a minimum in order to create an image of restrained emotion. This restraint is also evident in the technical treatment of the anatomy, where the hands and the arm visible under the tunic show the tension of the veins, charged with the strength of carrying the cross. This artistic skill is also reflected in small details such as the drops of blood caused by the crown of thorns, which do not fall dramatically on the face, and the transparent tears that wet the figure's cheeks. In this canvas the artist depicts one of the most dramatic moments of the Stations of the Cross, the moment when Christ bears the weight of the cross. In this episode it is common to see Simon the Cyrenian helping Jesus to carry the cross, or Veronica offering him a cloth to wipe his face clean of blood and sweat. However, the author of this canvas dispenses with these figures and seeks no theological meaning other than that of Christ's own suffering and voluntary sacrifice on behalf of humanity. In fact, this supreme generosity is reinforced by Jesus' own gaze, which avoids ours, turning to one side, towards something we do not see because it is outside the painting.Baroque painting is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and its form of expression arose from the people and the deepest feelings within them. With the economy of the state in ruins, the nobility in decline and the clergy heavily taxed, it was the monasteries, parishes and confraternities of clerics and laymen who encouraged its development, with the works sometimes being financed by popular subscription. Painting was thus obliged to express the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded a realistic language from art so that the faithful could understand and identify with what was depicted, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervour and devotion of the people. Religious subject matter was therefore the most recurrent theme.