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The present composition - composed of two panels - was originally part of a large Crucifixion, which at some point in the past was broken up into smaller panels. Although five of these have been reunited in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, most of the composition is still missing.
The painting reveals a great interest in narrative and is built up through the accumulation of numerous different elements and incidents, whereby various episodes from the Passion take place at the same time: in the middle ground, Christ bearing the Cross takes the cloth which St Veronica offers Him. Behind this scene we see a hanged man, probably the traitor Judas. The various figures in the procession behind Christ are depicted in great detail, and the anecdotal nature of the painting is obvious in the figure who makes a mocking face at the Virgin and her followers.
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