Full title | The Agony in the Garden |
---|---|
Artist | Ambrogio Bergognone |
Artist dates | active 1481; died 1523? |
Series | Two Panels from an Altarpiece |
Date made | probably 1501 |
Medium and support | Oil on wood |
Dimensions | 99.7 x 45.1 cm |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1879 |
Inventory number | NG1077.1 |
Location | Room 54 |
Art route(s) | A |
Collection | Main Collection |
Christ kneels in prayer. He gazes up at an angel, who presents him with a chalice containing the instruments of the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion). To the right, in a walled garden, three of the apostles sleep while a group of soldiers, led by Judas, peer furtively through an arched gateway. This is the Agony in the Garden, as told in the Gospel of Mark (14: 32–43).
Knowing he is going to die, Christ asks God to ‘take away this cup from me’. As he prays, the apostles repeatedly fall asleep – and fail to see the soldiers who have come to arrest Christ. Behind them dawn is breaking and the white clouds are lit from below by the rising sun.
This is one of a pair of small panels which were once part of a polyptych (multi-panelled altarpiece). The other, Christ carrying the Cross, is also in the National Gallery’s collection.
Christ kneels in prayer on a grassy hillock dotted with flowers. He gazes up at an angel floating in the air before him, who presents him with a chalice containing the instruments of the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion).
To the right, in a walled garden, three apostles sleep, heads resting on their hands; we can see John the Evangelist’s fair hair and Peter’s grey beard and balding head. Behind them, a group of soldiers, led by Judas, peers furtively through an arched gateway.
This is the Agony in the Garden, as told in the Gospel of Mark (14: 32–43). At Gethsemane, Christ – knowing that he has been betrayed and will die – takes Peter, James and John away from the other apostles and asks them to watch while he prays. As he asks God to ‘take away this cup from me’, the apostles repeatedly fall asleep and fail to see the soldiers who have come to arrest Christ. His distress is plain: crystal tears fall from his eyes, and beads of sweat form on his brow as he contemplates his imminent crucifixion.
This setting, however, is not first-century Palestine – it’s a beautiful morning in northern Italy in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. The sun is rising over the hills behind, lighting up the clouds in the clear blue sky and the upper leaves of the orange tree behind Christ. In the background the Last Supper is taking place in the open air on the terrace of a Renaissance house. Nearby, Christ and the three apostles make their way down a winding track to the garden, leaving the others behind. Renaissance artists often showed several episodes of a story in a single painting, as inThe Crucifixion: Central Panel or The Adoration of the Kings.
This small painting once formed part of a polyptych along with Christ carrying the Cross. They are the work of the Milanese painter Ambrogio Bergognone and probably date from 1501, the year inscribed on Christ carrying the Cross. At some point both panels were made into a triptych along with The Virgin and Child with Two Angels, which is perhaps by Ambrogio’s brother Bernardino.
Download a low-resolution copy of this image for personal use.
License and download a high-resolution image for reproductions up to A3 size from the National Gallery Picture Library.
License imageThis image is licensed for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons agreement.
Examples of non-commercial use are:
- Research, private study, or for internal circulation within an educational organisation (such as a school, college or university)
- Non-profit publications, personal websites, blogs, and social media
The image file is 800 pixels on the longest side.
As a charity, we depend upon the generosity of individuals to ensure the collection continues to engage and inspire. Help keep us free by making a donation today.
You must agree to the Creative Commons terms and conditions to download this image.
Two Panels from an Altarpiece
These two paintings of different episodes of the Passion (Christ’s torture and death) were once part of a triptych (a painting in three parts), along with The Virgin and Child with Two Angels, which is also in the National Gallery’s collection.
The three were not, however, made to go together. The two smaller panels of Christ may well have formed part of a multi-panelled altarpiece made by Ambrogio Bergognone in around 1501 (the date on one panel); the picture of the Virgin and Child is earlier, perhaps from the late 1480s, and is probably by Ambrogio’s brother, Bernardino.
Ambrogio Bergognone ran one of the leading painting workshops in Lombardy in the late fifteenth century, and his brother worked closely with him.
These two paintings – The Agony in the Garden and Christ carrying the Cross – were once part of a triptych, along with The Virgin and Child with Two Angels. They were not, however, made to go together and were painted by different artists (albeit brothers).
The two panels of the life of Christ may well originally have been part of a polyptych painted by Ambrogio Bergognone in around 1501 (the date on one of the panels). The Virgin and Child does not seem to be by the same hand, however; it was probably painted in the late 1480s by Ambrogio’s brother, Bernardino Bergognone.
Ambrogio ran one of the leading painting workshops in Milan in the late fifteenth century, and his brother worked closely with him.
Contemporary with the Master of the Pala Sforzesca and Andrea Solario, the Bergognone brothers remained unaffected by the radical compositional and atmospheric innovations of Leonardo da Vinci, who was also working in Milan from about 1482. Their calm, still scenes with their clear light and bright colours are closer to the work of Vincenzo Foppa.
All three panels were in a private collection in Milan – the Melzi Collection – in the early nineteenth century. We don't know where they were before that, or when they were combined into a single altarpiece.


More paintings by Ambrogio Bergognone




