Road to Calvary

This picture depicts the Road to Calvary from the gates of Jerusalem at the top left of the picture, through the central figure of Christ in the foreground to Golgotha, in a magnificent landscape. The highly detailed execution extends to the figures in the procession, opening up a line of research which has identified specific persons of the age among them. The main figure of the procession after Christ, Pilate sitting on a white horse, has been identified through the prominent crown-like upturned headgear and forked beard, as Sigismund. The chief priest to his left, in a red cope, could be Ozorai Pipó, one of the king’s chief generals, and the person between them portrayed in profile has been linked to John, Prince of Bavaria, who Sigismund made lord of Hennegau, Holland and Seeland in 1418. Assuming that this is true, the portrayal of Sigismund as Pilate may have been a reference to the governor who recognised Christ as the Saviour, but may also have been a comment on the king, who, contrary to his promise, sent John Huss to the stake.