Deposition of Christ

One constant in Bergl’s output were scenes from the Way of the Cross. In the second half of the 1750s, he produced several sets of images depicting the Way of the Cross, among them paintings for the churches in Dvůr Králové nad Labem and Orlice near Letohrad. Although Bergl was not documented as a student of Paul Troger, he was influenced by Troger’s work in the 1750s, particularly in his treatment of draperies and colour palette. From the early 1760s, a shift away from Troger’s influence is discernible in his output. The change of style related perhaps to Bergl’s closer contacts with Franz Anton Maulbertsch is already apparent in the Way of the Cross from the cloister of the Capucin monastery in Opočno, dating from 1763. The small picture Deposition of Christ painted on paper mounted on canvas in the form of a sketch seems to be a ricordo - a highly finished work made to be shown to the patron. Its prototype is a composition by Daniel da Volterro (S. Trinit? dei Monti, Rome) that was iconographically codified by Peter Paul Rubens in the Antwerp Cathedral.