AGONY IN THE GARDEN

Agony in the Garden: translation

An event that took place the night before Christ was arrested by the Roman soldiers and submitted to theCrucifixion. Christ went to the garden of Gethsemane withPeter, James, andJohn. His disciples fell asleep and he, tormented by his future death, began to pray. An angel appeared to him to give him strength and, by the time the night was over, Christ accepted his fate. The scene was rendered byAndrea Mantegna(mid-1450s),Giovanni Bellini(c. 1460; both London; National Gallery), andAlbrecht Altdorfer(1515; Monastery of Sankt-Florian near Linz) at daybreak, this last with brilliant lighting effects that render the sky orange-red.El Greco(1605-1610; Budapest, Szepmuveszeti Muzeum) andJan Gossart(1510; Berlin, Gemäldegalerie) preferred to depict the moment as a nocturnal scene.