Station of the Cross No. 6: "Veronica RendersService to Jesus" c. 1936

Geoffrey Holt’s “Station of the Cross No. 6” is a painting that feels like a memory, made with a brush and a whole lot of intuition. The palette here is muted, like faded frescoes, with strokes that are both tentative and bold. I can almost see Holt in his studio, wrestling with the image, layering washes of color, and wiping away, trying to capture something profound about suffering and empathy. I wonder if he was thinking about Giotto or some other early Renaissance painter when he made this? Look at the way Veronica’s face is rendered, so soft and full of compassion as she reaches out to Jesus. The paint is thin, almost translucent, which gives the whole scene an ethereal quality. The dark, brooding background contrasts with the figures, pushing them forward into our space. It’s like a stage set, and we’re all players in this drama. Painters always learn from each other, riffing on old themes and finding new ways to make them sing. It's a conversation across time, full of doubt, struggle, and hope.