“The Way to Calvary”, from the Orsini Polytypch c.1326-34, Simone Martini, Musée du Lourve, Paris, currently in the National Gallery Exhibition: “Siena the Rise of Painting, 1300 – 1350”.
A great crowd pours out through a narrow city gate. There is no attempt to achieve realistic perspective or scale. It is a river of emotion. At the centre is Jesus, carrying his cross and being pulled along by a rope tied tightly around his neck. He glances back with a look of sorrow at his mother whose arms are outstretched towards the cross on which her son will die. A soldier blocks her, raising a mace as if ready to strike her. Mary Magdalene, dressed in bright red, her arms raised in sorrow and her hair hanging loose, towers above the crowd. Simon of Cyrene can just be seen lifting the cross behind Jesus. Jesus alone is barefoot. There is no sign of strain in the positioning of his feet or in the way he supports the cross. His loose tunic is a moment of calm on a surface so densely arrayed in textured fabrics. Ahead of him are two small children, representing the generations to come; those for whom he will die. This small panel (A4 size) is packed with this artist’s inventions, many of which became very influential in Western Art. But for the eyes of faith, this painting is a rich source from which to ponder the great torment Jesus underwent for your sake and mine.
The Catholic Chaplaincy serves the students and staff of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University.
The Catholic Chaplaincy is also a parish of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh (the Parish of St Albert the Great) and all Catholic students and staff are automatically members of this parish.
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St Albert's Catholic Chaplaincy is part of the English Province of the Order of Preachers, a charity registered in England and Wales (231192) and in Scotland (SC039062).