Deiparae Virgini eius Filium Jesù ad Golgotha - A. Milani 1725

📜 Description
Monumental original engraving depicting the "Ascent to Calvary" or "Christ Bearing the Cross to Golgotha", executed by Aureliano Milani and dated to the Jubilee Year 1725. The work illustrates one of the most dramatic episodes of Christ’s Passion through a broad and complex narrative composition in which a multitude of figures gathers around the procession accompanying Jesus to the place of the Crucifixion. The scene unfolds before a fortified city gate and along a route leading toward the hilly landscape in the background, creating an expansive and articulated spatial setting. Christ, surrounded by soldiers, horsemen, and townspeople, forms the moral and emotional centre of the episode, while the dynamic arrangement of the figures and the complexity of the groups reflect the artist’s full adherence to the Emilian Baroque tradition. The Latin inscription engraved beneath the image presents the work as a meditation on Christ’s sacrifice and bears the artist’s signature, identified as "Aurelianus Milanus Bononiensis", together with the date 1725. Executed as a copperplate etching and printed from multiple joined sheets, the engraving combines devotional purpose, artistic achievement, and documentary significance, constituting an important example of early eighteenth-century Italian religious printmaking.

📚 Historical Note
Aureliano Milani (1675–1749), a Bolognese painter and engraver trained within the artistic milieu of the Carracci tradition, was among the leading figures of Emilian visual culture during the first half of the eighteenth century. Although best known as a painter, he also produced a number of highly accomplished engravings distinguished by their energetic linework and strong narrative character. The "Ascent to Calvary" ranks among his most ambitious graphic works in terms of scale and iconographic complexity and reflects the tradition of large-format religious prints intended for devotion and contemplation of the mysteries of the Passion.

🧾 Technical Details
Type: Monumental original religious engraving
Author: Aureliano Milani
Place: Bologna
Date: 1725
Material: Laid paper
Technique: Copperplate etching printed from multiple joined sheets
Subject / Title: "Ascent to Calvary" / "Christ Bearing the Cross to Golgotha"
Dimensions: Engraving 123 × 62.5 cm; frame 167.5 × 103 cm
Marks / Inscriptions: Latin dedicatory inscription; signature "Aurelianus Milanus Bononiensis"; date "Anno Jubilaei 1725"

🔍 Condition Report
The sheet is in excellent overall condition. The paper is well preserved, showing only normal original folding lines and minor traces of age consistent with the period. The engraved impression remains crisp and fully legible across the entire surface. The work is housed in an important later period frame with polychrome and gilt decoration. Overall, a highly decorative and collectible example of notable visual presence.