The Bearing of the Cross

1490 · Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster

religious

In the late fifteenth century, Wesel in the Lower Rhine was an important art centre, as demonstrated with the recently discovered oeuvre of Derick Baegert. His Bearing of the Cross does not merely describe Christ on the road to Calvary, but it evokes metaphorical associations through elaboration of the narrative. Without violating the meaning of the Gospel text, the painting transcends literal interpretation.

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About the Artist

Derick Baegert

1440 – 1515

German painter, part of a family of painters. Derick Baegert, who executed mainly religious works, ran a flourishing workshop with his son Jan, his nephew Jan Joest, and other masters. Father and son are thought to have visited the Netherlands together, c. 1482-4, but although a Netherlandish influence pervaded their work, Derick's retained a Late Gothic style. He produced several large altarpieces, including the ones for the Dortmunder Propsteikirche and the Mathena Church in Wesel, the Berlin Passion altar and the Parish Church altar in Cologne. Derick Baegert worked in Wesel in the lower Rhine region, but similarities in style between his works and panel paintings and book illustrations made in Utrecht indicate that he may have trained in that city. He was in Wesel by 1476 and painted a flag, probably for the town hall. From that year he is frequently mentioned in contracts, accounts and tax lists.

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