The invention of the cross; three men lifting a cross from a trench; from 'Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus beaux tableaux et d'après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France, Cabinet Crozat' after a drawing by Pinturicchio 1724 - 1769

Nicolas Le Sueur created this print, "The Invention of the Cross," after a drawing by Pinturicchio. It’s a scene depicting three men struggling to lift a large wooden cross from a trench, set against a backdrop dotted with skulls. Prints like this one circulated widely in 18th-century Europe, during an era when religious and political ideologies were deeply entwined. Though seemingly a straightforward religious scene, the image hints at the weight of faith—both literally, in the heavy cross, and metaphorically, in its implications for society. The act of lifting the cross can be seen as a burden shared among men, reflecting traditional gender roles within religious narratives, yet the labor itself and its placement over a pit filled with skulls, may also suggest the heavy cost of faith, the literal labor of it, the way it is built upon death. Consider the emotional tension in this scene: the strain of the men, the silent testament of the skulls, and the looming symbol of the cross. It invites us to reflect on the complex intersections of faith, labor, and mortality in the 18th century.