The cross that Christ bears is not an instrument of martyrdom but a symbol of his triumph over death. The face expresses not pain but serenity and a radiant faith in eternal life. This iconographic theme was inspired by De Imitatione Christi, The Imitation of Christ, published in the first quarter of the fifteenth century, which sought to instruct the souls of the faithful in Christian perfection. The work is notable for the characteristic brushstrokes with which the painter uses colour to model the volumes and distorts the bodies to reflect the spiritual longing of the characters.