A cavalcade of portraits on the Ghent painting Carrying of the Cross attributed to Hieronymus Bosch

Abstract

The paper focuses on a Flemish Renaissance painting with an evangelical theme, the entire surface of which is covered with nineteen portraits. Art historical research dates the Carrying of the Cross painting on display in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent as a late work by Hieronymus Bosch. The work's distinctive feature is its dramatic composition, crowded with faces, and the visual representation of the features emphasised in their facial expressions. The paper aims to shed light on the layers of meaning of the composition through iconographic, visual semiotic and image anthropological analysis, highlighting the significance of the facial depictions, their role in character representation and in conveying religious content. The historical perspective draws attention to a particular feature of late medieval and Renaissance iconography, the birth of the portrait, and the exploration of the potential of facial features in character portrayal, the use of physiognomy.