Christ carries the cross, on his way to Golgotha. Behind him is Simon of Cyrene, who helps to bear the weight of the cross. The fainting Virgin is supported by the three other Maries. Saint John the Evangelist, beside her, wrings his hands (Matthew 27: 30-3).
The painting formed the central panel of the predella below an altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with Saints made for Santa Antonio, Perugia, in about 1504-5, and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other parts of the predella exist in New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Boston (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) and London (Dulwich Picture Gallery).
