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A fairly small panel, in its day it must almost certainly have topped the central lane of a presumably medium-sized retable. Structural features like the lateral pinnacles, the rosette crowning the ogee that frames the scene, and the field with plant decoration, suggest that it is an upper compartment. From the iconography, it was probably at the centre, as in the Gothic era the theme frequently occupied the attics of Spanish altarpieces.

Despite the number of characters, the painting is relatively simple. As is befitting, the Crucified Christ takes centre stage, dividing the painting into two halves; He is flanked by the usual two groups of figures: to the spectator's left, is the Virgin's entourage; to the right, the group headed by St. John the Evangelist. Both are seated at the side of the Cross, following a formula then traditional in Catalonian painting and which had also been hugely popular in 15th-century painting from Valencia since the onset of international Gothic. While it is true that Mary is seated and with her eyes open, like St. John and the holy women that surround her, her posture suggests the fainting spell which is so often seen to affect her at the foot of the Cross.

Half figures cut from top to bottom stand at the sides of this open, static and serene composition. The panel is a long way from the hectic Calvary paintings produced in Catalonia in the early years of the century by artists like Guerau Gener and Joan Mates. Even the horses usually included in the scene have been left out, although Longinus, the centurion with the lance that pokes out above the Marys, must have been mounted on one. The cast of characters is set in the foreground in a rather anodyne landscape of largely flat, arid ground. Groups of pebbles are visible here and there, as is a path that winds away into the distance, towards a cluster of trees and a castle-like building, the habitual symbolic representation of Jerusalem. The entire scene takes place under a golden sky, dotted with plant motifs in stucco relief and punchmarks. (Cèsar Favà)

Selected bibliography

• Post, Chandler Rathfon. A History of Spanish Painting. Harvard, Harvard University Press, 1930-1966. Vol. VII, Part. I, p. 375.
• Lasterra, Crisanto de. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : catálogo descriptivo : sección de arte antiguo. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1969. p. 126, n° cat. 267. (Con el título El Calvario, y atribuido a ANÓNIMO ESPAÑOL DEL SIGLO XV).
• Gudiol Ricart, José ; Alcolea i Blanch, Santiago. Pintura Gótica Catalana. Barcelona, Polígrafa, 1986. pp. 181-183, n° cat. 518, fig. 898.
• Galilea Antón, Ana María. Catalogación y estudio de los fondos de Pintura Española del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao del siglo XIII al XVIII (de 1270 a 1700) [tesis inédita]. 1993. pp. 373-377. (Con el título Calvario, y atribuido a Anónimo catalán de la segunda mitad del siglo XV ¿Ramón Solá II?)
• Galilea Antón, Ana María. Catalogación y estudio de los fondos de Pintura Española del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao del siglo XIII al XVIII (de 1270 a 1700) [tesis inédita]. 1993. pp. 202, 203, figs. 129, 129a. (Con el título 'Calvario', y como Anónimo Catalán de la segunda mitad del siglo XV [¿RAMÓN SOLÁ II?])
• Galilea Antón, Ana María. "La colección de Pintura Española anterior a 1700 en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao", Urtekaria 1994 : asterlanak, albistak = Anuario 1994 : estudios, crónicas. 1995. pp. 21, 27, 42. (Con el título Calvario, y atribuido a ANÓNIMO CATALÁN DE LA SEGUNDA MITAD DEL SIGLO XV (¿RAMÓN SOLÁ II?) )..
• Galilea Antón, Ana María. La pintura gótica española en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : catálogo. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1995. pp. 260-263. (Con el título ”Calvario”, y como Anónimo catalán de la segunda mitad del siglo XV)
• Favà Monllau, Cèsar. "El Calvario cuatricentista catalán del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : esbozo para un contexto artístico = The Quattrocento Calvary fron Catalonia at the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : an outline of the artistic context = Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoko XIV. mendeko Kalbario katalana : testuinguru artistikoaren zirriborroa ", Buletina = Boletín = Bulletin, n° 8. 2014. pp. 47-83, 233-248.