The incident depicted in this illustration seems to be as apocryphal as
that embodied in the artist's picture of Mary Magdalene. There is
absolutely no warrant in scripture for the notion that Christ fainted
under the burden of the cross. The only foundation for such an idea to
found in the Bible is contained in the head note to Mark xv, which is
quite unwarranted by the text. According to the three synoptic gospels
the cross was borne not by Christ, but by Simon, a Cyrenian (see Matthew
xxvii, 32; Mark xv, 2 1; Luke xxiii, 26). According to the fourth
evangelist, Jesus bore the cross without assistance the whole distance to
the place crucifixion (John xix, 16-18). In not one of the four
narratives is there so much as a hint that he fainted under the burden.