Sic deus dilexit mundu | For God so loved the world

The 8th engraving from Salus Generi Humani series devoted to the Life of Christ features the beginning of his Way of the Cross leading to Jerusalem, where Jesus was judged and condemned to death, as well as the end of his Way, where he hung on the cross at Golgotha between two thieves. These simultaneously presented scenes from the Passion of Christ, highlighting two differing times within one composition frame, are diversified in terms of scale. In the foreground, Jesus is suffering under the weight of the cross, being simultaneously pulled by a servant holding a cord. Despite this, he turns his head to look at his mother, accompanying him in the background with Mary of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his heavy cross. In the shadow of the cross, the ominous outline of the helmets marks two Roman soldiers, one of whom clearly points his hand towards Golgotha, indicating the end of the convict’s march. At the back of the procession, the representatives of the Jewish community ride on horseback, followed by the Roman army marked by spears and the typical legion signum banner. In the distance, the same crowd is depicted on the road climbing to the top of Golgotha. Huge walls surrounding Jerusalem rise on the left side behind the procession. The engraving, with a perfectly developed chiaroscuro, exemplifies the artistic flair of Aegidius Sadeler II (1570-1629), a painter, draftsman and engraver, representative of the then popular mannerism. Trained by his father, Jan Sadeler I, he worked and travelled across various artistic centres, from Antwerp to Germany, to Italy, to Prague, where he was active at the court of Rudolf II Habsburg (1552-1612), an art and science enthusiast. Above the depiction, a Latin inscription elucidates that this was Christ’s biblical destiny. Through His passion, Christ is to cleanse the humanity from original sin. This is the love God showed to his people.